Forty-three Catholic groups, (click here) including the University of Notre Dame and Archdioceses of New York and Washington, have sued the Obama administration over a controversial mandate requiring employers to offer insurance plans that include contraception coverage.
In a coordinated filing of 12 lawsuits in federal courts across the country, the groups argue that the mandate would unconstitutionally force religiously-affiliated institutions, like Catholic schools and hospitals, to indirectly subsidize contraception for female employees in violation of religious beliefs.
President Obama in February attempted to accommodate the groups’ concerns with an administrative compromise he said would ensure no religious organization had to pay for or provide the services directly. But today’s lawsuits signal that the Catholics groups found the effort insufficient.
“We have tried negotiation with the Administration and legislation with the Congress – and we’ll keep at it – but there’s still no fix,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York said in a statement. “Time is running out, and our valuable ministries and fundamental rights hang in the balance, so we have to resort to the courts now.”...
The "Church Based" Funding of the USA is as generous to them as it is to other non-profit entities that hire Americans to work for them. Those monies offered to these institutions come from taxpayers of all religions, ethnicities and otherwise. If Americans are good enough for the funding to these institutions and they are good enough to work for these institutions, then they are good enough to have equity in benefits as well.
ND Expert: The legacy and challenge of a landmark decision
DATE: MAY 18, 2012
Reflecting on the recent anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s (click here) landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, John Schoenig, director of the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) Program for K-12 educational access, insisted that serious challenges to the equality of educational opportunity remain.
“On May 17, we commemorated the 58th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, arguably the most important civil rights decision in Supreme Court history,” Schoenig said.
“It was through Brown that the deplorable legacy of ‘separate but equal’ that had been enshrined in Plessy v. Ferguson was formally prohibited in America’s public schools. This year’s anniversary is a particularly special one, insofar as Brown is now as old as Plessy was when Brown was decided.”...
Notre Dame knows better than to expect every person in its employee to have the same religious affiliation. If they want that dynamic they need to stop accepting monies from the federal government and seek an exclusive category as a "Catholic's Only" university. Considering 97% of Catholic women use birth control in the USA, this lawsuit is grossly out of step with contemporary Catholics.
PUBLISHED: AUTUMN 2004
The Notre Dame program (click here) that places recent grads in Catholic schools to teach for two years will have to get along without the support of the federal AmeriCorps program if a court ruling earlier this year stands.
In July a U.S. District Court judge ruled that the Corporation for National and Community Service, parent of the AmeriCorps national service program, violated the principal of separation of church and state by financially supporting Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program and similar programs organized by religious institutions. The decision stemmed from a suit brought two years ago by the American Jewish Congress, which argued that tax dollars were being used to teach Christianity....
There is nothing I can respect about the Catholic Church if they don't provide understanding for their members within their doctrines AND see themselves exempt from discrimination of Americans based on religious doctrines. This is over reaching. If funding from the USA government can be CONTAMINATED by citizens of all religions and those that don't practice a religion as those that contribute to the USA Treasury; and the MONEY is good enough for the Catholic Church to accept, then it is good enough to RESPECT the law of the land in the USA.
It is a very strange thing to have Right Wing members of Congress and religious institutions finding the money from the USA Treasury CLEAN ENOUGH to accept but not to the extent where EQUITY of all Americans apply. With the Right Wing there should be no tax dollars going toward abortion clinics, yet they can have faith based funding from the same USA Treasury. I would think if the USA Treasury was CONTAMINATED with the monies of UNCLEAN citizens according to religious doctrine of one kind or another, the funding would be shunned completely by all religious organizations.
This is Cherry Picking at it's worst. Religious organizations can decide what is clean 'enough' for them to accept when it comes to the citizens of the USA and then it can decide what is unclean.
Like. What?
If I work for a religious entity because my talents are needed and I don't practice their religion I EXPECT to have my civil rights protected no matter where I work. I find it disgusting that the Catholic Church considers themselves better than their employees in their determination of whom is holy and whom is not. The USA is not heaven and the Catholic Church should not believe they can make it hell-like for all those not of their doctrines.
USA funding is not exclusive, it is INCLUSIVE and that applies to the citizens of this country seeking work and benefits.
There is nothing I can respect about the Catholic Church if they don't provide understanding for their members within their doctrines AND see themselves exempt from discrimination of Americans based on religious doctrines. This is over reaching. If funding from the USA government can be CONTAMINATED by citizens of all religions and those that don't practice a religion as those that contribute to the USA Treasury; and the MONEY is good enough for the Catholic Church to accept, then it is good enough to RESPECT the law of the land in the USA.
It is a very strange thing to have Right Wing members of Congress and religious institutions finding the money from the USA Treasury CLEAN ENOUGH to accept but not to the extent where EQUITY of all Americans apply. With the Right Wing there should be no tax dollars going toward abortion clinics, yet they can have faith based funding from the same USA Treasury. I would think if the USA Treasury was CONTAMINATED with the monies of UNCLEAN citizens according to religious doctrine of one kind or another, the funding would be shunned completely by all religious organizations.
This is Cherry Picking at it's worst. Religious organizations can decide what is clean 'enough' for them to accept when it comes to the citizens of the USA and then it can decide what is unclean.
Like. What?
If I work for a religious entity because my talents are needed and I don't practice their religion I EXPECT to have my civil rights protected no matter where I work. I find it disgusting that the Catholic Church considers themselves better than their employees in their determination of whom is holy and whom is not. The USA is not heaven and the Catholic Church should not believe they can make it hell-like for all those not of their doctrines.
USA funding is not exclusive, it is INCLUSIVE and that applies to the citizens of this country seeking work and benefits.
