Faith Leaders, Theologians Celebrate Common-Ground Solution on Contraception, Religious Liberty
In addition to the leaders mentioned in my previous post about religious groups commending the Obama administration’s common-ground solution on conscience exemptions and contraceptive coverage, numerous prominent faith leaders and theologians released a statement lauding the decision this afternoon. The press release and list of signatories are below and available here:
Today, national faith leaders and organizations are celebrating the White House’s announcement of a common-sense, common-ground solution to religious liberty concerns around contraception coverage that protects women’s access to important preventive health care. The regulation expands religious exemptions within the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that contraceptive services be covered without copayment in health insurance plans, while guaranteeing that employees of religious institutions can obtain family planning and other preventive health services directly from their insurance providers. Below is a statement from Catholic and Protestant leaders celebrating the decision as “major victory for religious liberty and women’s health.”
Today the Obama administration announced an important regulation that will protect the conscience rights of religious organizations and ensure that all women have access to contraception without a co-payment. We applaud the White House for listening carefully to the concerns raised by religious leaders on an issue that has provoked heated and often misinformed debate. This ruling is a major victory for religious liberty and women’s health. President Obama has demonstrated that these core values do not have to be in conflict.
Specifically, this new regulation guarantees that no religiously affiliated institution will have to pay for services that violate its moral beliefs or even refer employees for this coverage. Instead, if a woman’s employer is an objecting university, hospital or other religious institution, her insurer will be required to offer her coverage at no cost. This is a sensible, common-ground solution.
In recent days, sound bites and divisive rhetoric have too often pitted the faith community against sound science and public health. The previous regulations caused an unnecessary conflict between the administration, the Catholic Church and other religious institutions. We are encouraged that the Obama administration has developed a substantive solution that addresses the concerns of the many constituencies involved. We look forward to bringing the same level of passion displayed in this debate to other pressing moral issues that face our nation.
Sister Simone Campbell
Executive Director
NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
Institute Leadership Team of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
Terrence W. Tilley
Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J., Professor of Catholic Theology Chair, Theology Department
Fordham University
Rev. Paul Crowley SJ
Jesuit Community Professor of Theology
Santa Clara University
Nicholas P. Cafardi
Dean Emeritus and Professor of Law
Duquesne University School of Law
Vincent J. Miller
Gudorf Chair in Catholic Theology and Culture
University of Dayton
Douglas W Kmiec
United States Amb. (ret)
Professor of Constitutional Law and Caruso Family Chair in Constitutional Law
Pepperdine University
Kristin Heyer
Associate Professor, Religious Studies
Santa Clara University
Gerald J. Beyer
Associate Professor of Theology
Saint Joseph’s University
Stephen Schneck
Director of the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies
Catholic University of America
Francis Schüssler Fiorenza
Stillman Professor of Roman Catholic Theological Studies Harvard Divinity School
Cambridge, MA
John Inglis
Chair and Professor of Philosophy
Cross-appointed to Religious Studies
University of Dayton
Bradford E. Hinze
Professor of Theology
Fordham University
Bronx, NY
David DeCosse
Director of Campus Ethics Programs
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
Santa Clara UniversitY
Todd Whitmore
Associate Professor of Theology
University of Notre Dame
Sr. Paulette Skiba
Professor of Religious Studies
Clarke University
Michael E. Lee
Associate Professor of Theology
Fordham University
Tobias Winright
Associate Professor of Theological Ethics
Saint Louis University
Richard R. Gaillardetz
McCarthy Professor of Catholic Systematic Theology
Boston College
Christopher Pramuk
Assistant Professor of Theology
Xavier University
Rev. Dr. Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite
Professor of Theology
Chicago Theological Seminary
The Rev. Canon Peg Chemberlin
Immediate Past President
National Council of Churches
Rev. Anne Howard
Executive Director
The Beatitudes Society
Rev. M. Linda Jaramillo
United Church of Christ
Justice and Witness Ministries
Rev. Richard Cizik
President
New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good
Dr. David Gushee
Board Chair and Co-Founder
New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good
Rev. Alexander Sharp
Executive Director
Protestants for the Common Good
Dr. Sharon E. Watkins
General Minister and President
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada
Rev. Dr. Ken Brooker Langston
Director
Disciples Justice Action Network (DJAN)
Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner
President
Skinner Leadership Institute
Linda Bales Todd
Director of Women’s Advocacy
General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church
Jim Winkler
General Secretary
General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church
Rev. Randolph Bracy, Jr.
Senior Pastor, New Covenant Baptist Church
Orlando, FL
Lisa Sharon Harper
Director of Mobilizing
Sojourners
The. Statement is balanced, thorough and sound public policy which shows concern for Women’s health, Christian belief and personal conscience.
It’s best to have no faith in “faith leaders.”
If “progressive” religious people want to persuade more conservative folks to stop voting for the GOP, you have to give them a reason to. That means, you need stop your monolithic knee-jerk support for the Democratic Party’s abortion agenda and other political positions that traditional religious people find immoral and repugnant..And stop your nauseating ‘holier than thou” attitude about who cares more about poor people, saving the world, etc.