War erupts between Obama administration and Catholic groups: Bishops threaten lawsuit
The Washington Post is reporting this morning about a “contentious battle” emerging between Catholic groups and the Obama administration over a multitude of issues ranging from Obamacare, abortion, contraception, to even human trafficking.
What brought the fracas tumbling out into the street was apparently a decision by the Department of Health and Human Services three weeks ago not to renew a grant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to aid victims of sex trafficking. A five-year, $19 million grant, which expired in March, was first awarded to the USCCB in 2006 via President Bush’s faith based initiatives program.
The decision to deny funding to the USCCB by HHS, which is headed by pro-abortion Catholic Kathleen Sebelius, appears to have been based purely on political and ideological hostility:
[S]enior political appointees at HHS awarded the new grants to the bishops’ competitors despite a recommendation from career staffers that the bishops be funded based on scores by an independent review board, according to federal officials and internal HHS documents.
That prompted a protest from some HHS staffers, who said the process was unfair and politicized…. Their concerns have been reported to the HHS inspector general’s office.
Under HHS policies, career officials usually oversee grant competitions, and priority consideration is given to the review board’s judgment….
A bone of contention with the Obama administration, which it admitted, was the bishops’ refusal to refer sex trafficking victims for contraception or abortion. HHS went on to split a new $4.5 million grant between three organizations that all scored “significantly below the Catholic bishops’ application by the review panel,” according to WashPo. Their threads of similarity were support for contraception and abortion.
Now the bishops are threatening to sue for anti-Catholic bias.
Contraception is a bone of contention on another issue. In August HHS issued a mandate forcing private insurers to cover contraceptives with a “far too narrow” religious exception, according to Catholics.
Someone I’d really like to hear from on right now is Doug Kmiec, the infamous Catholic law professor who endorsed Obama for president in 2008. As recently as June Kmiec said he was “98 percent” sure he would endorse Obama in 2012.
[Top photo via The Washington Examiner; bottom photo via WashPo]
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
I hate the phrase “pro-abortion Catholic.” You know that saying about how going to church doesn’t make one a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes one a car? Same concept. Sebelius, Pelosi, et al may call themselves “Catholic” but given their public and flagrant denial of key Catholic teachings (i.e., the intrinsic evil of abortion), they are Catholics in name only, not in word or deed. Their actions indicate that they are the hypocrites Jesus condemned, the ones who say, “Lord, Lord” but do not know Him.
I’d love to hear Kmeic’s perspective, too; also Sister Carol Keenan’s.
It doesn’t surprise me that Doug Kmiec would still support Obama in 2012. Thirty pieces of silver doesn’t go far these days.
Obama has got to go. He might possibly be the worst president since Jimmuh Carter (or even Herbert Hoover).
It is a major challenge to resist the feelings of hate filling my heart. I pray to God this “man” and all of his cronies are stopped one year and five days from now. Please, God, spare us any more of this torment.
“A bone of contention with the Obama administration, which it admitted, was the bishops’ refusal to refer sex trafficking victims for contraception or abortion.”
Seriously? Contraception and abortion are only going to help keep a sex trafficking victim in the sex trade, not help get her out. Shouldn’t that be the priority for these girls and women?
It is high time for the Bishops to stand up to Obama. Ya, Doug K. what say you?
I think this is great. Anything that puts a wedge between the Bishops and the Obama administration is long-needed. Too many of the Bishops are in love with him and need to break up. The Church should stop looking to the government for money and instead turn to the Lord Jesus.
The “war” between Obama’s gov and the Bishops should have started the day Obama took out the Mexico City Policy…it’s unfortunate that it’s only when the Bishops realize that their funding will be cut did they decide to move…
We need to pray for strong Bishops…even when Obama and his goons are gone.
You folks complain about your tax dollars going to Planned Parenthood. Why should my non Catholic tax dollars go to an organization that imposes its medieval morality on girls who should have access to birth control and abortion – both of which are legal. The bishops obviously feel that having babies is good for sex trafficked girls. And why should my non Catholic tax money go to a group that includes a bishop who has recently been indicted for not reporting sexual abuse and clergy who are still being arrested for sex crimes. The Catholic bishops are misogyny personified and the more marginalized they are the better it is for those of us who don’t subscribe to their twisted, women hating theology.
And BTW, I realize that you hate President Obama. But how have his policies (few and far between given the GOP opposition) impacted you personally? But right, it will be so great with a GOP controlled government. No more abortion and lots more babies – but no social safety net which will mean lots more poor babies and moms who will be getting into sex trafficking in order to pay the bills. But right, the Catholic bishops will set up nice orphanages (and we know how great the Irish orphanages were) for all the kids who don’t get adopted.
Anyway, Kudos to the Obama administration for standing up the Bishops who already have too much power in what was founded as a secular country – and certainly not “Papist.” They should have no power over any woman – let alone victims of sex trafficking.
Good! I don’t see how this is “anti-Catholic”. These people are not entitled to this grant–that’s not how grants work. Espeically if they leave out what the payer considers vital services (contraception I agree with, abortion I do not).
I say create a secular non-profit to help these victims and leave the religion out of it!
Just like when the very few Christian leaders (Bonhoeffer and Niemoller) stood up to Hitler in Nazi Germany (despite the vast silence of the rest of the church), we need more Christian leaders to stand up today and speak up for righteousness and speak out against the evils of the day (mass destruction of human life, homosexual sodomy, islam, pornography, etc…) and those in positions of power who support these evils and even try to force the church to embrace these evils. When the Church of Jesus Christ will not stand up, then the nation is in serious trouble.
CC
We do more than complain. We defund.
The state of TN just defunded PP in EVERY county!!
Woot!
More moms going into sex trafficking to pay the bills??
This is what we do and we do it well. Helping moms through their pregnancies and beyond. They are called Pregnancy Centers.
There are more than 4,000 in the US.
Keep on with the fearmongering though. It’s cute.
I voted for Obama. Now, I have had a change in heart and I regret my choice to vote for him. Also, There are not pro-choice Catholics. Its impossible.
If every woman who was raped, sex trafficked, or exploited through incest was a Catholic woman then I would agree with you. However as most of those women are not catholic there is no reason to subject them to catholic teachings and beliefs in what can only be described as their darkest hour. Most Christians realize that the teachings of Jesus cannot be forced on anyone. Jesus must be accepted into your heart of your own free will. My Baptist Minister God Father taught me that when I was 10 years old.
It is not like these women will be forced to have an abortion if they do not want one, but the Catholic Church is limiting options for victims through its stewardship of this grant money. How could you look at a woman in that much emotional and physical pain and decide that is the right time to inject your political or spiritual opinion on their recovery? A bit insensitive don’t you think? It should be left to the victim to decide what is best for them to recover from such tragedy.
Besides, the Catholic Church already gets way too much money from our government thanks to their tax exempt status. They pay zero dollars into our government so they should get zero out of it. If you want to be a part of the rodeo then you need to pay for your ticket first.
CC:
“Why should my non Catholic tax dollars go to an organization that imposes its medieval morality on girls who should have access to birth control and abortion – both of which are legal. The bishops obviously feel that having babies is good for sex trafficked girls. ”
I’m not surprised that you said this CC. You were pretty upset with Lila Rose for exposing Planned Parenthood’s covering for sex traffickers. I give you an A+ for consistency. You still want sex-trafficked girls kept in contraception and abortion, simply because the bishops oppose it.
I think the easiest way to turn this whole mess around would be for the Bishops to support sex trafficking and abortion, just so the libs would oppose it reflexively. Then we’d be rid of it all.
You are so filled with hate and bitterness that you have become a twisted old woman, reflexively condemning decency simply because it comes from the mouths of those whom you hate. Here’s your anthem, written when my grandmothers were girls.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E8byrApKa8
Gerard – There are lots of Catholic Liberals. Jesus himself would be a liberal if he were alive today. The conservative stance on most issues are the opposite of what Jesus stood for. In fact there was a compelling story on Huffpo today about how Jesus would be considered a communist if he was still alive today. Interesting reading.
Good for these Bishops! They have a proven record of helping thousands of victimized women, and should be given aid to continue that work. I am encouraged to hear that they refused to add abortion referrals to their program–at least there are still some REAL Catholics out there!
Abortion is NOT healthcare! It’s adding another wound to an already hurting woman.
Besides, if any of the victims helped through the Bishops’ program decide they want to seek an abortion provider, all they have to do is call Planned Parenthood on their own. PP will gladly take their money and send them back to their abusers, no questions asked. Seriously, Biggz and CC, this wonderful program is in no way limiting your favorite sacrament of abortion; it is a group of people trying to help women “in their darkest hour.”
LittleZ,
Stay with me on this one.
A girl who is sex-trafficked comes into the protective arms of a Catholic agency. She is not tossed back onto the street. She is transferred to the protection of the legal authorities, So unless she’s planning to sleep with the social worker, or Family Court judge, we need to provide contraception why???
The same for a grown woman.
The Catholic Church is not in the business of pumping sex workers full of hormones, stuffing their pockets with condoms and delivering them home to their pimps at a decent hour. Do you know how absurd you sound??
As for abortion, let me assure you; as one who worked with teen prostituted for seven years in Times Square NY in the 80’s, these girls all know of at least 20 abortionists if they have their heart set on one. We don’t need to refer or drive them there. They know where to go.
We’re in the business of helping young women to make life-affirming decisions so that they don’t become CC in 40 years. That’s what this is all about.
JVR – Sure unless that victim wants an abortion or birth control then “all they have to do is call Planned Parenthood on their own. PP will gladly take their money”….
So you would help these women unless they disagree with your own religious beliefs in which case they are on their own? Where would these women get the money to get an abortion or birth control? Their attackers, another couple of John’s, or maybe their long lost wonderful parents will all of a sudden come to their rescue now?
Is this what Jesus taught? To only help people who agree with you and believe as you do? Bear in mind we are talking about victims here, not free spirited girls who just like having sex… Exploited, beaten, and raped victims.
BiggZ,
I agree with you that Jesus doesn’t slip neatly into any one political category, and Pope John Paul II did a masterful job of calling out Communism and Capitalism alike on their own failings in charity.
That said, no, Jesus wouldn’t be considered a liberal, or a conservative today. He condemns the slaughter of innocents as much as he condemns the exploitation of third world factory workers who make bare subsistence wages in their manufacture of $180 sneakers.
You are on the right track, but your focus needs to be on the Gospels and not on political labels. The failure of conservatism all too often is the tepid embrace of social justice (if at all in some quarters), while the failure of liberalism is their being drenched in the blood of innocents.
Both will get one sent to hell.
Gerard – So are the three organizations that grant money was diverted to. They have all the same abilities as the Catholic Church to help women but without the religious dogma to cloud the issue. Is the Catholic Church the only organization that can provide this sort of help to victims or is this really about your hatred of abortion and to hell with the victims feelings or needs?
Also you might think about some of the very nasty digs you take on people like that last one about CC… I know the mods turn a blind eye to the insults you throw but it does not become you or do justice to your argument.
Is this what Jesus taught?
Jesus taught that you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might and that you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
You don’t help victims by enabling and encouraging them to victimize others, Biggz. You don’t have to believe in Christ to realize this. It is common sense.
“We’re in the business of helping young women to make life-affirming decisions so that they don’t become CC in 40 years.”
Clarification: you’re in the business of helping young women make decisions that YOU consider to be life-affirming. More than 99% of American women will use some form of contraception between ages 15 and 44. Poor women shouldn’t be treated like political pawns; they deserve access to healthcare every bit as comprehensive as the type that women who can afford it enjoy. And that includes reproductive healthcare, from pregnancy prevention to prenatal care and beyond. To offer them any less is to violate their autonomy.
But please, keep entertaining us with your vision of the “good life,” Gerry. Care to share that harrowing story again of how your wife nearly died in childbirth? So glad you’d be willing to impose those risks not only your wife, but every other sexually active woman who comes into your care. Shudder.
Gerard – So Jesus would approve of conservatives taking away federal money to help heat the homes of the poor through the winter? He would also support the mass executions done by the state like Texas where we know innocent men and women have been put to death or for that matter would he support the execution of the guilty? Would he support the healthcare for all citizens regardless of financial status? Would Jesus be against Immigration and for building big fences? Would he support waging war for any reason if it meant killing one single person regardless of that person’s religious faith?
No Jesus was about helping people, ALL people. He was about accepting people, ALL people including gays and Muslims. I think you need to reread through those gospels more than I do Gerard.
“Is this what Jesus taught? To only help people who agree with you and believe as you do? Bear in mind we are talking about victims here, not free spirited girls who just like having sex… Exploited, beaten, and raped victims.”
Again, BiggZ…
You miss the point. Catholic charities NEVER discriminate in whom they help. There is no faith-based litmus test. You are either severely mistaken or willfully engaging in calumny here.
Nobody is forced to follow Catholic doctrine. We tell people what we do, and what we don’t do. I know. I rescued kids from sex-trafficking for seven years, all in a Catholic agency.
We never gave birth control.
We never referred for abortion.
And no girl ever said, “Screw this oppression, I’m going back to my pimp.”
They were glad to hear that someone thought their bodies to be special in the sight of God. Now, unless you can match that experience, you’re sounding pretty clueless.
BiggZ,
You last post was a classic example of you so wanting to make a point that you never read what I wrote. I believe I said that Jesus would condemn the sins of conservatives and capitalism.
You come here and spend hundreds of hours defending the murder of babies. Where have you heard anyone, ANYONE on this blog EVER promote any of the sins you just enumerated? (and since Jesus, the Word MAde Flesh was the author of capital punishment in the Bible, yes He supported it).
You are the one coming here and promoting murder, and you spend hundreds of hours doing it. Then you turn and accuse people of faith of sins that they’ve never committed, and who through their churches have done more charity that your small heart could comprehend in ten lifetimes.
Look in the mirror. The only one’s I see promoting mortal sin on this blog are the proaborts such as yourself, and if you think that at your judgement you’ll be able to justify that by pointing at others’ sins, you are frightfully mistaken.
Megan,
I’d be happy to share the story of my wife’s selfless love…
Right after you share again how your selfishness and self-absorption led to the slaughter of your baby and how the world is better off for it. You first.
No Jesus was about helping people, ALL people. He was about accepting people, ALL people including gays and Muslims. I think you need to reread through those gospels more than I do Gerard.
Curious as to what your definitions of “helping people” and “accepting people” are in your statement here.
Jesus accepts any penitent heart which turns to him for forgiveness of sin and salvation from a life of slavery to sin.
Yes Gerard but other organizations can give just as good of care and still offer options that a catholic organization will not. If the Catholic Organization is giving grade A help to victimized women then a non-catholic organization can give grade A+ care as they offer more options. The recipients of this grant money can do everything your catholic organization can do a just a little bit more.
However when the Bishops threaten to file lawsuits to protect the federal GRANT money they have no right to… Sound political to me.
BTW – no that was a example of comment delay… I am replying as fast as I can but my typing skils are not fast. I did read what you wrote.
Gerard, your response to Megan regarding your wife is FAR kinder than I would have been.
I am pretty sure that Capital Punishment comes from the Old Testament which belongs to the Jews. If you need clarification about the Old Testament you might want to ask your local orthodox Jew. The New Testament belongs to Christians just like the New New Testament belongs to the Mormons… Jesus taught people to turn the other cheek and let them be judged by god not man.
“Look in the mirror. The only one’s I see promoting mortal sin on this blog are the proaborts such as yourself” Are you the one to determine what is or is not a mortal sin? Please tell me where in the Bible it says removing a small clump of cells is a mortal sin? You are projecting your belief that a zygote is a person or has a soul. That is your opinion and it is not backed up by what is actually written in the bible.
However returning back to this story, on what planet would the Catholic Church bishops “who do not pay taxes” have any legal ground to sue the federal government for grant money?
“The only one’s I see promoting mortal sin on this blog are the proaborts such as yourself,”
Hey Gerry, you don’t seem to realize that it’s only your “one, true church” that traffics in mortal and venial sin. And you don’t seem to be able to accept that not all Christian churches believe that abortion and birth control are so called mortal sins. But you’re a member of a “true” church, right?
And BTW, it’s really funny that you lifers worship at the altar of Lila Rose whose videos proved bupkis. There hasn’t been one prosecution based on these videos. Meanwhile, the Catholic church has paid millions for settlements regarding sexual abuse both in pre-trial settlements and post trial awards. But I digress
Any agency that deals with youth and refuses, on the basis of religious belief, to not make referrals for abortion and birth control should not get federal money.
And Dr. Nadal – what do you say to those non Catholic clergy who support a woman’s right to abortion? Or do you avoid contact with these blasphemers?!
Biggz (5:52 pm), what Jesus are you talking about? The Lord Jesus Christ, whose earthly life is recorded in the New Testament and prefigured in the Old Testament, is the centre of history. Educate yourself about Him. Because He lives now, you can’t just talk about Him in the past tense. He is. As Psalm 2 says, you had better kiss His feet–prostrate yourself in absolute submission–or you will cry for the hills to cover you at His second coming.
Don’t misrepresent my Lord. As God He says that the job of the civil government is not first of all to help the poor (that’s more a job for His Church). According to Romans 13, the job of the civil government, to whom God gave the power of the sword, is to punish the evil-doer. Evil-doers do injustice inside the country (and sometimes require capital punishment) or threaten it from outside (and sometimes require war).
Don’t slander my Lord. He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). As the perfect man, my new forefather, He kept God’s law perfectly. He never sinned sexually as gays do. He never worshiped a false god as Muslims do. And yet He was punished for all these sins because He willingly gave His life in my place. That’s the gospel, and I think you need to reread the Gospels in order to know the gospel.
“The Lord Jesus Christ, whose earthly life is recorded in the New Testament and prefigured in the Old Testament, is the centre of history”
The only primary source references to Jesus Christ are from Josephus and the references are very brief. The New Testament was “officially” made the cannon under the emperor Constantine in the fourth century. In other words, no You Tube videos of this Jesus person.
CC,
As for other Clergy who promote baby killing? I tell them that they’re going to hell unless they repent.
LittleZ,
“Yes Gerard but other organizations can give just as good of care and still offer options that a catholic organization will not. ”
Again with your lack of understanding…
Grant applications are reviewed and graded. The other agencies given the money didn’t score nearly as well as the Catholic Church did. So, no, according to the grant reviewers, the others CAN’T give as good care.
And that will be the basis of the discrimination lawsuit.
Next?
“Sebelius, Pelosi, et al may call themselves “Catholic” but given their public and flagrant denial of key Catholic teachings (i.e., the intrinsic evil of abortion), they are Catholics in name only, not in word or deed.”
As far as I know Sebelius. Pelosi, Biden, and the many, many pro-abortion Catholics are Catholics in good standing, I have not heard from the Bishops otherwise. The Boston Archdiocese is run by big Obama fundraisers, see Jack Conners. Don’t let the backstabbers fool you.
http://bostoncatholicinsider.wordpress.com/2011/05/16/continuing-connors-code-of-conduct-conundrum/
“I’d be happy to share the story of my wife’s selfless love…Right after you share again how your selfishness and self-absorption led to the slaughter of your baby and how the world is better off for it. You first.”
Meh, you’re not really interested in my story, and I won’t disabuse you of your beliefs about my wickedness. But please, care to explain what you’d do if one of the girls you so lovingly “counseled” into keeping an unwanted pregnancy ended up on her deathbed in childbirth. Coercion sort of undermines the point of selflessness, no?
And please, do inform me how refusing to provide referrals for Plan B to sex abuse victims is anything but sadistic and cruel?
Jon – Where in the Old Testament does it say Jesus is coming? If it says that then why do Jews deny Jesus as the son of god?
Also Jesus is still alive? Where is he? Does he have a P.O. Box or a regular street address? I would love to ask him if the evangelical right truly represent what he was teaching over 2000 years ago.
So god gives the power to governments of men to distribute capital punishment, so why attack Iraq? So why attack Libya? If they have the authority to distribute death? Why bother with a judgment of god if we are to be judged by other men?
I would suggest you do more than read the gospels… try questioning them.
One last thing why would humans give the New Testament anymore weight than the Book of Mormon. Both are expansions of the Jewish belief with which the Jews do not agree. Christians are as much of a cult to the Jewish faith as Mormons are to Christianity. The idea of God having a son and sending him down to earth in an immaculate birth is just as offensive to orthodox Jews as the idea of Jesus starting a third tribe of Israelites in what is now the USA after his resurrection… Lots of men have claimed to be the son of god over the centuries with other men and women to follow and believe them. Most recently David Koresh and Warren Jeffs, yet another cult leader preaching his version of what god told him…
Well Gerard lets see how well they score when they are reciving as much federal grant money as the Catholic Organization used to get… Whoever has the most money can help the most people…
Yes I am sure that no abortion loving Democrat could be a real Catholic… but the Church has no problem accepting their money… Hypocrite.
LittleZ,
Swing and a miss…AGAIN!!
It isn’t the Democrat’s money. It’s OUR money! The Church accepts government funding because…
Shhhhh….
Keep this a secret….
{Catholics pay taxes too! Its Catholic taxpayer $$$}
Keep trying!
Gerard: Your comments are great but just a friendly reminder–Don’t feed the trolls! I admire your patient explanations, but even so they fall on deaf ears. The infantile nature of their responses confirms that they are not listening.
No Gerard I am saying that the Catholic Churches they attend on Sundays accept their money in the plate. Yes all citizens pay taxes but the Catholic Church does not… In fact I would be willing to bet we could make a serious dent in the national debt if we taxed the Catholic Church just on its land holdings let alone its income.
Forgive me Jerry but ….
Littlez, when you speak of god you do not seem to be speaking about our God.
Understanding God the Father of Jesus Christ comes from being graced with the Holy Spirit.
Right – leave religion out of it. Separation of church and state is a good thing.
Doug, Are you saying that you interpret seperation of church and state to mean these funds should not be allowed to go to Catholic care agencies just because they are Catholic, even though the government board that graded organizations in quality of services graded the Catholic organization #1 in ability to provide assist victims of sex-trafficing?
If I were responsible for allocating funding for the provision of a certain range of services, I very much doubt that I’d look too kindly on a contender who asked for the job whilst declaring that they wouldn’t provide all the required services because of some personal belief. If you don’t want to provide the full range of legal and required services, don’t apply.
“Catholic charities NEVER discriminate in whom they help.” – maybe not, but they certainly discriminate in how they help.
“We never gave birth control.
We never referred for abortion.
And no girl ever said, “Screw this oppression, I’m going back to my pimp.” – that doesn’t mean that they are totally happy with what you do provide, it’s probably just a case of ‘the lesser of two evils’.
“And that will be the basis of the discrimination lawsuit.” – they weren’t excluded because they are catholic, they were excluded because they wouldn’t provide all the services which would assist.
“Shhhhh….
Keep this a secret….
{Catholics pay taxes too! Its Catholic taxpayer $$$}” – Shhhh… as well as everyone elses’.
Well, this post certainly stirred the flying monkeys, didn’t it? I just can’t decide who the Wicked Witch is - Obama or Sebellius?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SESI19h4wDo
OK, I am up for the government defunding this program of the Bishops if they also defund the very fraudulent planned parenthood.
Sounds fair.
The bishops could drum up money fast for their charity if they give up passing money to leftie programs which promote unethical practices.
Doug, Are you saying that you interpret seperation of church and state to mean these funds should not be allowed to go to Catholic care agencies just because they are Catholic, even though the government board that graded organizations in quality of services graded the Catholic organization #1 in ability to provide assist victims of sex-trafficing?
Truthseeker, really just saying, “Look, you’re getting the money for free – don’t be too picky.”