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The Court Clarifies the Stakes Dear Albert, Yesterday the Supreme Court found the "individual mandate" of the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) to be constitutional, essentially renaming the provision that forces almost everyone in the nation to purchase health insurance as a "tax" -- something that the Obama administration repeatedly claimed it was not while it was being sold to the American people. As we said yesterday, this decision upholds a law that is thoroughly unjust and anti-life, and which must be repealed in its entirety. So although the Justices were addressing questions unrelated to the main problems we have with the law, it is a clarion call to action. To reaffirm what is at stake in the months ahead, let's consider two quotes. The first is from a statement by Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. This decision will have a profound and concrete impact on millions of people's lives. Affordable, quality health care will now be available to millions of women who had no coverage or inadequate coverage before. Today, we are closer than ever to realizing the promise of health care for all. This is a victory for the American people, and we thank President Obama and the members of Congress who passed the Affordable Care Act for their leadership on this issue.
The second is from our own Father Peter West, who was able to give a short statement on the steps of the Supreme Court following the decision: Though many think that contraception actually leads to less abortions, in practice, a contraceptive mentality that fails to see a child as a gift actually leads to more abortions. Besides being a violation on the right to life, Obamacare is a direct assault on personal and religious liberty, and the rights of conscience which should be protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees free exercise of religion. As an international organization, we have seen how other governments throughout the world violate these rights, but I never thought it would happen right here in the United States of America. It was not just the individual mandate that was a problem, it's the entire bill that's a problem, and it needs to be repealed. It forces religious employers, such as Human Life International, to pay for abortion inducing drugs, sterilization, contraception--regardless of our moral and religious objections. It allowed a group of bureaucrats to make and life and death decisions for patients based in large part on a cost-benefit analysis. Planned Parenthood is thrilled that the law was upheld, which tells us something very important, and which deserves notice by any Christians who still defend the law. Human Life International and all those who defend the dignity and authentic rights of every human person are disappointed, but in no way discouraged in our efforts to see the Affordable Care Act replaced by a system that affirms the value of every human being from conception to natural death, and that takes a measured approach to a system that does indeed need reform.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
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