Today on "Kresta in the Afternoon" for January 23, 2012

Talking about the "things that matter most" on January 23

4:00 - Catholic Leaders Respond Nationwide to HHS "Preventive Services" Mandate
Both the president of the U.S. bishops and the bishops’ Pro-Life chairman called on the thousands of Catholics gathered today at the March for Life to speak out for the protection of conscience rights and religious liberty. “From a human point of view, we may be tempted to surrender, when our government places conception, pregnancy and birth under the ‘center for disease control,’ when chemically blocking conception or aborting the baby in the womb is considered a ‘right’ to be subsidized by others who abhor it,” said Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). His words referred to the January 20 announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that nearly all employers will be forced to cover drugs and procedures that violate their conscience in their health insurance plans Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron is here to discuss it.

4:20 – Kresta Comments: The March for Life, Stomping on the Catholic Conscience and How Catholics in America Proceed


5:20 – Obama Admin: Birth Control Mandate is Final; Bishops Vow to Fight
On Friday, in a statement from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the Obama administration announced it would not reconsider its “contraceptive mandate” — that is, the unprecedented command it issued last August forcing all private health plans to cover contraceptive and sterilization services, including drugs that cause early-term abortions. From the outset, the administration sought to camouflage the mandate’s radical assault on conscience by inserting an exemption for “religious employers” who objected to paying for contraception and abortion. It is a pitifully small fig leaf, however. Attorney Kyle Duncan is here to explain.

5:40 – Live at the March for Life
An unborn baby’s heart begins beating 18 days after conception – a tiny heartbeat, a human heartbeat, and a vulnerable one. In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade made it legal to kill unborn human beings at any stage of development, at any time before birth, in all 50 states. Though abortion might be legal, not every American supports this travesty of justice. In January of every year, hundreds of thousands of Americans gather in our nation’s capital to protest the Supreme Court’s decision, denounce legalized abortion, and stand in defense of defenseless unborn human life. Teresa Tomeo is there reporting and joins us to share the events of the day.