Contraception rule violates rights of Catholics

I’m responding to the letter that asked what the Catholic Church teaches and why they object to President Obama’s mandating their insurance companies to cover free contraception, abortion-inducing drugs, and sterilization. The media has distorted the truth, causing confusion about this issue.

The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death. Contraception may cause early abortions unknowingly by not allowing a fertilized egg to implant in the uterus after conception. The “morning-after pill” directly causes an abortion. The Catholic Church and many other faiths teach that abortion is the killing of human life and is intrinsically evil. Our religious leaders are supporting this teaching of the faith.

The Church isn’t opposed to natural means of preventing pregnancies through natural family planning which doesn’t destroy human life. Even so, contraception is available in other secular facilities that are already funded by the federal government. So, why is this president infringing on religious organizations?

The mandate that President Obama is putting on Catholic hospitals, universities, charities, insurance companies, and small Catholic business owners isn’t so much about birth control, but about a violation of religious freedom and conscience.

The Obama administration is mandating insurance companies to pay for practices that may be contrary to their fundamental beliefs. Our ancestors fled their countries and came to this country to avoid religious persecution and to freely practice their beliefs.

The right to religious freedom is in the First Amendment because it’s the most important, belonging to every American. We need to be diligent and aware of the mandates that this president is infringing on our religious freedoms. Knowing this, we cannot be silent, just as our ancestors were not.

Thankfully, we can voice our opinions through freedom of speech. Our freedoms must be protected.

Julie Roche

Libertyville