Obamacare – Madison Catholic Herald

Here we go again. The U.S. Senate may be voting on another health care bill this week designed to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare.

The Senate hasn’t given much opportunity for the public to weigh in on the Graham-Cassidy proposal. There was only one public hearing scheduled on the measure, to my knowledge.

The U.S. Catholic bishops have apparently studied the proposed legislation, co-sponsored by Republican Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.

On March 27, 2014

Fr. Frank Pavone

Just a pinch of incense: refusing to compromise on religious principles

In The Offense of the Cross, W. A. Criswell points out, “The Roman Empire was the most tolerant, the most liberal, the most wise, and the most accurate in its handling of the many provinces and religions of its empire of any kingdom that ever existed. Men could worship, have temples, and do as they pleased.

“And yet the Roman Empire and the Caesars persecuted the Christians. Why? For one simple reason: the Christian refused to compromise his faith with any other religion whatsoever.”

That refusal to compromise is seen in the response of the apostles themselves to the command not to teach in the name of Jesus: “We will obey God rather than men!”

On January 15, 2014

Jane Tarrell

Abortion as ‘health care’ and conscience rights

To the editor:

Ted Cruz (Republican U.S. senator from Texas) was on the news this morning. So refreshing! He told it like it was — the Democrats and the White House manipulated the government shutdown just as they are responsible that the sequester went into effect. A delay of Obamacare was the only requirement to prevent the shutdown.

On C-SPAN, healthcare.gov experts were asked the question: “Why do I need an ID to sign up for health care on the government website?” The answer in so many words was, “You need an ID for everything.”

Oops, how do you explain the lack of a need for voter ID?

How is legal abortion “women’s healthcare”? There has never been a piece of legislation requiring inspections of abortion clinics. Many abortions are done only because the baby is a girl. I’ve never heard of a government program to address the emotional trauma of having had an abortion.

On February 27, 2013

Jeanne Breunig

HHS mandates provide children with services without parental notification

To the editor:

We are shocked to read in the Alliance Defending Freedom HHS Mandates Fact Sheet, page 2, (http://www.alliancedefendingfreedom.org/content/docs/facts/ObamaCare-and-its-Mandates.pdf) that children ages 0-26 will receive contraception, sterilization, and abortion with no parental notification.

Please be aware that this provision will cause untold harm and death to all families under Obamacare.

On November 15, 2012December 18, 2024

George Weigel

The crisis of a second Obama administration

President Obama’s re-election and the prospect of a second Obama administration, freed from the constraints imposed by the necessity of running for re-election, have created a crisis for the Catholic Church in the United States.

On November 1, 2012

Patrick Hardyman

Consider ‘intrinsic evil’ of abortion in voting

To the editor:

In June 1963, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the great civil rights leader, wrote a letter to eight white clergymen explaining why he was in Birmingham, Ala., fighting racial discrimination. Dr. King wrote this letter from his jail cell, thus it has been famously known as the “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”

In the letter Dr. King talked about just and unjust laws. “A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law . . . an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.”

Since 1973, almost 55 million surgical abortions have taken place in this country because seven unelected men serving for life decided they were above God’s eternal law. Of course, I am speaking of the seven men on the nine-member body of the United States Supreme Court who voted to strike down the abortion laws in all 50 states with its 1973 decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton.

On November 1, 2012

Patrick Hardyman

Consider ‘intrinsic evil’ of abortion in voting

To the editor:

In June 1963, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the great civil rights leader, wrote a letter to eight white clergymen explaining why he was in Birmingham, Ala., fighting racial discrimination. Dr. King wrote this letter from his jail cell, thus it has been famously known as the “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”

In the letter Dr. King talked about just and unjust laws. “A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law . . . an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.”

Since 1973, almost 55 million surgical abortions have taken place in this country because seven unelected men serving for life decided they were above God’s eternal law. Of course, I am speaking of the seven men on the nine-member body of the United States Supreme Court who voted to strike down the abortion laws in all 50 states with its 1973 decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton.

On November 1, 2012

Patrick Hardyman

Consider ‘intrinsic evil’ of abortion in voting

To the editor:

In June 1963, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the great civil rights leader, wrote a letter to eight white clergymen explaining why he was in Birmingham, Ala., fighting racial discrimination. Dr. King wrote this letter from his jail cell, thus it has been famously known as the “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”

In the letter Dr. King talked about just and unjust laws. “A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law . . . an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.”

Since 1973, almost 55 million surgical abortions have taken place in this country because seven unelected men serving for life decided they were above God’s eternal law. Of course, I am speaking of the seven men on the nine-member body of the United States Supreme Court who voted to strike down the abortion laws in all 50 states with its 1973 decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton.

On October 25, 2012May 5, 2021

Dan Berns

Misguided values should not control our lives

To the editor:

We are parents of 10 children (nine living), unplanned parenthood if you choose to call it that. We have never owned a new automobile nor have we relied on food stamps or unemployment compensation for which we may have qualified at times.

Our children were taught personal responsibility in the context of strong Catholic education. These children, with our 29 grandchildren, are welcome members in the communities where they reside. The eighth child is a Catholic priest. Collectively, our children hold five master’s degrees and speak 11 languages.

Family size should not be judged numerically, but rather on the ability to care for and guide the children. Two children can be too many, and five too few.

On February 22, 2012

Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr.

President’s ‘compromise’ still infringes upon religious liberty

When President Obama mandated that religiously-based organizations violate core tenets of their faith, Americans were rightly outraged.

The president then announced an “accommodation” policy to these organizations, but the so-called compromise is not a compromise at all because it does not take away the mandate that infringes upon religious liberty.

On January 20, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, affirmed a rule that requires church-affiliated hospitals, agencies, and universities to provide contraception and sterilization in the health insurance for their employees.