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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Catholics in
Court<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></DIV>
<DIV class=WordSection1>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Wall Street
Journal<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Editorial<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">May 22,
2012<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303610504577418600748537734.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop">http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303610504577418600748537734.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The 12 federal
lawsuits filed Monday by 43 Catholic plaintiffs against the Obama
Administration's birth-control mandate are a big political and Constitutional
moment. The nation's most prominent Catholic institutions are saying that the
same federal government they have viewed for decades as an ally in their fight
for social justice is now a threat to their religious liberty.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">This can't
have been an easy decision, especially because the plaintiffs are hardly
founding members of the tea party. They include the Archdioceses of New York and
Washington but also Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and even the
University of Notre Dame. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The famously
liberal Notre Dame gave President Obama an honorary degree in 2009 despite his
support for abortion rights. At the time, Notre Dame President John Jenkins
applauded Mr. Obama's "willingness to engage with those who disagree with him
and encourage people of faith to bring their beliefs to the public debate."
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">So much for
that. The lawsuit signals that far from engaging with "those who disagree," Mr.
Obama has rebuffed Catholic leaders in their attempt to work out a compromise
over the Administration's mandate that all insurance plans offer contraception
and sterilization services, including abortifacients. "If the government wants
to provide such services," Father Jenkins said in a statement Monday, "means are
available that do not compel religious organizations to serve as its
agents."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">But the
Administration deliberately rejected any such means, exempting a religious
employer only if it is a nonprofit whose goal is the "inculcation of religious
values" and which primarily employs and serves people who share the same values.
That leaves out legions of parochial schools, universities, hospitals, soup
kitchens and other charities whose beliefs are also threatened by the
mandate.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The Department
of Health and Human Services offered a fig leaf in February, foisting the
mandate onto insurance companies rather than religious employers. But the
insurers would pass along the mandate's cost to the employers in any case, and
institutions like Notre Dame that self-insure would still be subsidizing
policies that violate core church teaching. As Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New
York put it, this so-called "safe habor" effectively gives religious
institutions "a year to figure out how to violate [their]
consciences."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The suit
charges that the mandate violates the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause, as
well as the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which requires that the
federal government meet a higher legal standard for any law that interferes with
religious liberty. "If the Government can force religious institutions to
violate their beliefs in such a manner," argues the Notre Dame suit, "there is
no apparent limit to the Government's power." <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The
Administration and Democrats have tried to obscure the real nature of this
dispute by claiming that the church wants to deny contraception to women. But
birth control will continue to be widely available and easily affordable no
matter what the legal outcome. Nine out of 10 health plans currently provide it.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The real and
startling question at issue is whether the entitlement state can pound
everything, including religious belief, to its political will. Few previous
Administrations would have dared such a high-stakes Constitutional battle, but
Mr. Obama's willfulness reveals the change that is taking place in liberal
politics. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Once upon a
time the political left viewed Catholics and especially the bishops as their
allies in using government to create more equal opportunity and redistribute
income. But today's Democratic Party puts a higher cultural value on sexual
politics and expanded reproductive freedom. We trust the courts will instruct
the Administration that the Constitution still puts religious liberty
first.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d">**Text
<B>“Insider”</B> To <B>91919</B> To Join The GOP Mobile Army </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 8pt">Text
Msg and Data Rates May Apply</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d">**<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d">Disclaimer: The
Republican National Committee provided the above article as a service to its
employees and other selected individuals. Any opinions expressed therein
are those of the article’s author and do not necessarily reflect the views and
opinions of the RNC.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P></DIV></BODY></HTML>