The United States Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 that the national health care law is constitutional. The Kansas Catholic Conference issued the following statement:
The Kansas Catholic Conference takes no position on the specific constitutional questions decided by the United States Supreme Court today. However, the Court’s decision has the extremely undesirable effect of leaving in effect certain provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that are gravely immoral:
- The ACA allows use of federal funds to pay for elective abortions and for plans that cover such abortions.
- The ACA fails to protect conscience rights and makes possible the HHS mandate to force religious and other employers to cover sterilization, contraception, and abortion-inducing drugs in their employee health insurance plans, even when it violates their deeply-held religious beliefs.
These policies must not stand.
The Catholic Church has long advocated health care for all, especially the poor and the vulnerable. However, health care must be life-affirming, and cannot come at the cost of our religious freedom.
The lawsuits appealing the HHS “contraceptive mandate” remain in effect and will continue to be pursued with the utmost vigor. In the meantime, we once again call upon Congress and the President to take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that the conscience rights and religious freedom of all Americans are protected, and to ensure that public funds are never used to subsidize abortion.