Supreme Court Decision on Hobby Lobby: A Great Day for the Religious Freedom of Family Businesses

[From the USCCB website...]

June 30, 2014

Americans can follow faith in running closely held businesses
Court leaves open whether ‘accommodation’ violates RFRA

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision today in favor of Hobby Lobby Stores and Conestoga Wood Specialties means “justice has prevailed,” said Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty. The Court ruled that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) “preventive services” mandate violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) as applied to these employers to the extent that it would have forced them to provide insurance coverage for drugs and devices that violate their religious convictions on respect for human life. The statement follows:

“We welcome the Supreme Court’s decision to recognize that Americans can continue to follow their faith when they run a family business. In this case, justice has prevailed, with the Court respecting the rights of the Green and Hahn families to continue to abide by their faith in how they seek their livelihood, without facing devastating fines. Now is the time to redouble our efforts to build a culture that fully respects religious freedom.

“The Court clearly did not decide whether the so-called ‘accommodation’ violates RFRA when applied to our charities, hospitals and schools, so many of which have challenged it as a burden on their religious exercise. We continue to hope that these great ministries of service, like the Little Sisters of the Poor and so many others, will prevail in their cases as well.”

To Overcome Isolation: The Parish Respect Life Ministry

[The following is a guest post by Traci Porzel, parishioner at Catholic Church of the Incarnation and  coordinator of the parish's Respect Life Committee.]

Two years ago, as I began to grow in my faith and develop a deeper prayer life, I discerned the call to serve in the parish’s Respect Life Committee.  Questions and issues related to the respect of human life have always held a special place in my heart and in my prayers.  Nonetheless, it was not an easy thing to discern or decide.  My family and I have only been in our parish for a few short years, and I am a mother to three children under the age of five.  With so little time, energy, and ministry leadership experience, I didn’t feel ready or able to lead anything.

God had different plans, however, and He led me to reflect on a quote by Edmund Burke: “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”  I began to ask myself, “If not me, then who?”  I knew that it was not enough to hold my faith and my passion for the protection of life quietly at home.  It became much clearer to me that Catholics are called to live out the faith through works of mercy in the world (see James 2).  God led me to accept the call to serve in a tangible way, not just through private piety.

Once I committed, there was another obstacle.  Because of my passion, I was tempted to try to boil the ocean, so to speak.  Yet, because of my limited resources, I would not be able to do all that I wanted or intended.  So I had to make prayer the foundation of my engagement in this ministry.  The Respect Life Committee continually prays that the Holy Spirit and our Blessed Mother guide our efforts, focusing them where they desire.

The Spirit has led us to engage in 40 Days for Life as a primary event for this ministry.  40 Days for Life is a bi-annual worldwide campaign of prayer and fasting to end abortion.  Each spring and fall, at the largest local abortion clinic (and at home), people pray, fast, and minister to women and children who are in crisis pregnancies.  For those, like me, who engage in this ministry season after season, it is always inspiring when we hear uplifting stories in which the mother had a change of heart and saved the life of her child.  It is also extremely powerful when women who are recovering from abortions express regret for their choice, and begin to pray with the 40 Days campaign for other women and babies.

Each woman has a unique situation that has brought her to consider abortion, but there are some common threads in every story.  Many women have little or no support from family or community.  Having a baby probably seems impossible because no one tells the women that choosing life is a reasonable option.  They become isolated.  The presence of people who pray for and support these women demonstrates that there is another choice, the choice of life.  Some women can and will choose to walk in a different direction (literally away from the clinic doors), when they see that someone will support them and listen to their stories.  Therefore, this ministry seeks to end isolation as much as anything else.  When people feel loved and in community, they don’t choose abortion.

The 40 Days for Life prayer vigil also serves the broader community.  We pray for the employees of the clinics.  If the employees desire to leave that industry, there are related ministries that assist them.  We help the local crisis pregnancy centers with their resource needs, and we always refer women to them who would otherwise choose abortion.  We serve people who pass by on the streets by raising awareness and answering questions about abortion with good, accurate information.  Finally, we serve others in the pro-life community.  We share time and resources, and we encourage each other with stories of hope.  Because, without hope and in isolation, people can easily become discouraged and give up on this ministry.

The 40 Days for Life ministry has transformed the pro-life movement, especially in the United States.  In a culture that is very argumentative and divisive (especially in the media news outlets), pro-life activities and presentations can be grossly misunderstood.  However, this ministry answers the Church’s call to break down barriers, to forget distractions of finger-pointing, and serve the women and children of our society who are really hurting.  This ministry involves people praying, not protesting.  It paints a picture of life, not death.  It is coordinated by people who truly love others and seek to engage them instead of being judgmental or hateful.  This movement focuses on reducing the demand for abortion by offering love and support to women in difficult situations so that they do not mistakenly believe their only option is to kill their unborn child.

Without a doubt, this ministry is founded on religious freedom, the freedom that every human being has to seek, know, love, and serve God.  This freedom is not limited to worship inside a sanctuary, but it includes the freedom to speak in public about things of faith; to pray in public with people of similar beliefs; to act in a way that exhibits the faith we hold in our hearts, including the Respect Life ministry and the 40 Days for Life vigil.  In our own age, it is becoming more difficult to minister without restriction.  Violations of religious freedom will make it more difficult to provide hope to women entering abortion clinics, and it will prevent us from sharing Christ’s love as our Lord requires of His disciples.

Statement from USCCB

Supreme Court Decisions on Marriage: 'Tragic Day for Marriage and our Nation,' State U.S. Bishops

June 26, 2013

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Supreme Court decisions June 26 striking down part of the Defense of Marriage Act and refusing to rule on the merits of a challenge to California’s Proposition 8 mark a “tragic day for marriage and our nation,” said Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, chair of the U.S. bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage.
The statement follows.

“Today is a tragic day for marriage and our nation. The Supreme Court has dealt a profound injustice to the American people by striking down in part the federal Defense of Marriage Act. The Court got it wrong. The federal government ought to respect the truth that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, even where states fail to do so. The preservation of liberty and justice requires that all laws, federal and state, respect the truth, including the truth about marriage. It is also unfortunate that the Court did not take the opportunity to uphold California’s Proposition 8 but instead decided not to rule on the matter. The common good of all, especially our children, depends upon a society that strives to uphold the truth of marriage. Now is the time to redouble our efforts in witness to this truth. These decisions are part of a public debate of great consequence. The future of marriage and the well-being of our society hang in the balance.

“Marriage is the only institution that brings together a man and a woman for life, providing any child who comes from their union with the secure foundation of a mother and a father.
“Our culture has taken for granted for far too long what human nature, experience, common sense, and God’s wise design all confirm: the difference between a man and a woman matters, and the difference between a mom and a dad matters. While the culture has failed in many ways to be marriage-strengthening, this is no reason to give up. Now is the time to strengthen marriage, not redefine it.

“When Jesus taught about the meaning of marriage – the lifelong, exclusive union of husband and wife – he pointed back to “the beginning” of God’s creation of the human person as male and female (see Matthew 19). In the face of the customs and laws of his time, Jesus taught an unpopular truth that everyone could understand. The truth of marriage endures, and we will continue to boldly proclaim it with confidence and charity.

“Now that the Supreme Court has issued its decisions, with renewed purpose we call upon all of our leaders and the people of this good nation to stand steadfastly together in promoting and defending the unique meaning of marriage: one man, one woman, for life. We also ask for prayers as the Court’s decisions are reviewed and their implications further clarified.”