Having now retired from the bench, I am able to put out political signs. I took advantage of the opportunity and set out signs in Bangor, Orono, Bucksport and Castine that read “Vote for religious freedom.” That message addresses the federal Health and Human Services mandate for religious employers to provide insurance coverage for contraceptives, despite their moral opposition. The required coverage includes drugs and devices that prevent implantation after conception, which is anathema in churches that are against abortion. The Roman Catholic Church also opposes artificial birth control.
Contrary to what Vice President Joe Biden said in the vice presidential debate, faith-based institutions have not been exempted from the HHS mandate. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops responded to his remarks, “This is not a fact. The HHS mandate contains a narrow, four-part exemption for certain ‘religious employers.’ That exemption was made final in February and does not extend to ‘Catholic social services, Georgetown Hospital, Mercy Hospital, any hospital, or any other religious charity that offers its services to all, regardless of the faith of those served,’” according to an Oct. 12 USCCB statement.
The HHS definition of religious institutions that are exempted from the HHS mandate is extremely limited: (1) Exempt institutions must be intended to promote the faith’s religious values; (2) most employees must be of the faith; (3) the organization must primarily serve members of the faith; (4) it must qualify as a nonprofit for Internal Revenue Services’ purposes. The narrow exemption is opposed by many denominations. Wheaton College, a Christian, but not Catholic, institution is among the organizations challenging the mandate in federal courts. The Stand Up for Religious Freedom rally held Oct. 13, in Sanford, Maine, featured presentations by members of Baptist, Mormon and Charismatic Episcopalian congregations. The attorney for the U.S. Catholic bishops noted, in responding to the HHS Rule on May 12, “We are free to worship our God, but not to serve our neighbor….[U]nder this criterion, even Jesus would be deemed insufficiently ‘religious’ to qualify for the exemption because he fed and healed people of many different beliefs.”
The issue is not contraception. Nor is it the definition of abortion. The issue is “free exercise” of religion. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The HHS mandate tries to avoid a constitutional violation by narrowing the definition of “exercise of religion” to the point that most religious charities, schools and social service agencies do not qualify. This is an extraordinary assault on religious liberty. Sadly, the divided Congress chose not to amend the Affordable Care Act to change the regulatory restriction.
I spent 32 years of my life happily bound by an oath to uphold the constitutions of the state of Maine and of the United States. The religious freedom issue is of primary importance to me as I face electoral choices. I do not expect it to be everyone’s primary issue, but it is one all citizens should consider when they vote. Application of the mandate to religious employers should be opposed even by those who are pro-abortion rights. Everyone is at risk when constitutional protections are diminished, as they are by this regulation. For our nation to survive as a free people, we must protect each other’s liberty as well as our own. “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
Jessie B. Gunther was a district court judge in Maine from 1990 to 2012 and a superior court justice from 1980 to 1986.
Free unfettered access to birth control and contraceptives and free unfettered access to abortions, boom I just solved crime, drugs and welfare problems. We can not continue to have unwanted children in the country. Do people honestly think the Earth can support as many people as we want?
God knows when the earth will be full. When we try to play his part, we’re going to feel pretty stupid when we have to face him after we die. And there is no such thing as an “unwanted child.” God wants every one of them to join him in heaven someday.
Utopian to the extreme.
I’ve got some really great ocean front property in Arizona I’d like to sell to you, I’ll let it go cheap!
WOW
Get used to this commentator, you’ll see a lot of him and his posts are usually similar to this one.
No, it doesn’t. I requires a minimum standard for insurance policies. Period. You aren’t required to provide health insurance for others in order to exercise your religion. Quit lying and misrepresenting the truth.
That’s amazing that you served the public, but you know damn well that providing insurance plans has nothing to do with freely exercising religion.
A faith-based institution is not a church. Churches are exempt under the law. I find it hard to believe the right still wants to argue contraception. This is about opposing Obamacare at every turn.
Let the church foot the bill for pregnancies that aren’t planned. Their insurance rates will go up if the Insurance providers are not allowed to offer birth control as part of the plan. The insurance companies know that their costs will go up because of the higher pricetag in paying for pre and post natal care.
So, is it a “free exercise of religion” for a business to dictate how you spend the money they pay you?
If you work for a Catholic Hospital can they prevent you from even buying contraceptive with the money they pay you ? It sounds ludicrous but legally it is a very small step and that is the argument being made in the federal courts at the moments.
It comes down to how much of a right does an employer have to impose their religion on their employees?
Health insurance is about the employee, not the employer, so it follows that the employer has no business determining the morality of including or not including a particular aspect of healthcare coverage. It’s unfortunate that in the US health insurance is largely provided for through the workplace, since the personal healthcare issues of employees should be of no concern to the employers. Other than in a workplace with a particular religious affiliation, such as a denominational school, the employer’s religious views should have nothing to do with his/her employees. Yes, it is about religious freedom; the freedom of the employee to not have his/her healthcare options dictated by an employer. What will the judge argue next? That employers may withhold coverage for blood transfusions because they are against their particular religious perspective?
So if I’m a Jehovah’s Witness I can restrict blood transfusions? What if I’m a Christian Scientist — I don’t have to provide medical care at all (prayer should be sufficient, after all)?!
As much as I respect Judge Gunther, there is clear provision in the ACA that cover’s ‘Religious exemption’s’ for those institution’s and organization’s that have, as a part of their faith or religious practice, a prohibition on contraceptive’s. What has been also so amazingly unmentioned is the fact that this ACA exemption is also subject to being modified and expanded as the Act is implemented. This exemption issue was a key reason that Justice Roberts had no problem in declaring the ACA constitutional since it did, in deed, provide for both the ACA to both provide health care AND to accomadate religious provision’s at the same time. In short, the ACA provides for both freedom of choice and freedom of conscience to make the choice, or not make the choice. Does the Act require certain employer’s to provide contraception under either the ACA or their specific employee health plan ? No it does not, under those religious faith or practice’s exemption’s. But what the ACA does provide for is C-H-O-I-C-E, not an outright, engraved in stone law, for the individual to avail themselves of. And that makes this whole thing a matter between the individual and their God. And, if someone can correct me if neccessary, that’s what the matter of free will, and our using it, is what he gave us to use, comes down to.
I respectfully disagree with Judge Gunther’s opinion on these matters. I hope she did not appy such Catholic-based rationales on any of her bench decisions.
Well put Judge..God Bless…
I suggest that religious institutions only hire members of their own faith and deal only with members of their own faith in order to eliminate the problem.
And not take any taxpayer money, federal, state, or local.
I am amazed when people say that anyone is restricting or prohibiting birth control. Anyone who wants can walk into a store and buy condoms, any doctor will prescribe the pill for any woman. The only true argument here is about who will pay for it. Your employer or insurance company not wanting to pay doesn’t forbid you from having it. I have yet to see any insurance company offering to buy condoms for men. Does that make it a sexual discrimination issue?
The employee and the employee both pay.
I’ve never known an employer who pays for health insurance. They reduce your wages/salary to pay for it. There is no logical reason why religious institutions that serve the public should be exempt. If that were true then we can start to exempt those who for religious reasons won’t serve gays, or blacks or jews or catholics. If they want to run institutions for the general public outside of their church then they need to follow the laws of the land. If they don’t want to follow those laws then they need to stop serving the general public and stop taking taxpayer money.
Sorry, Judge, but the freedom to worship according to your beliefs does NOT extend into a free pass to avoid workplace legislation. As far as I can tell, the ACA does not mandate that anybody who has a religious objection to the use of contraception has to buy and use them. No, wait–, I guess that catholic couples ALREADY do that on their own. SO much for the teachings of the catholic church…
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/Religion-and-Contraceptive-Use.pdf (98% of all women who identify as catholics have used contraception other than cross your fingers at some point.)