Talking about the "things that matter most" on April 20
Today on the Best of “Kresta in the Afternoon”
4:00 – HHS Mandate Confusion: It’s Not About Access To Contraception
Just as the Civil Rights movement of the 60’s confirmed, discrimination against any person or entity on the basis of who they are, directly contradicts our founding principles; our unalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Discrimination on the basis of who we are and what we believe is absolutely unacceptable. We talk to David Wilson about what the HHS Mandate is and is not.
4:20 – In 3 Decades, 1,000 Missionaries Slain
According to a report published Wednesday by the Rome-based Fides news agency, at least 1,000 missionaries were killed in the period from 1980 to 2011. In the years 1980-89 there are 115 deaths among missionaries recorded. This number is below the true total, Fides said, as it only refers to confirmed cases. In the following decade there was a sharp increase in deaths, for a total of 604. In the period 2001-11 there were 255 recorded deaths among missionaries. In the most recent year, 2011 there were 26 missionaries killed: 18 priests, 4 women religious, and 4 laypeople. We talk about the circumstances and most dangerous locations for missionaries with religious freedom expert Paul Marshall.
4:40 – Obamacare Faces the Supreme Court: Is the Individual Mandate Constitutional?
The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments over the constitutionality of the sweeping health care law championed by President Barack Obama, with a majority of justices appearing to reject suggestions they wait another few years before deciding the issues. In one of the most politically charged cases in years, the health care reform case drew people who waited in line for days for the chance to attend, and sparked competing news conferences by supporters and opponents of the 2010 law. Attorney Rob Muise joins us to analyze.
5:00 - How to Go from Being a Good Evangelical to a Committed Catholic in Ninety-Five Difficult Steps
American evangelicalism has recently experienced a new openness to Roman Catholicism, and many evangelicals, both famous and ordinary, have joined the Catholic Church or are considering the possibility. Christian Smith helps evangelicals who are exploring Roman Catholicism to sort out the kinds of concerns that typically come up in discerning whether to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church. In simple language, he explains many theological misunderstandings that evangelicals often have about Roman Catholicism, and suggests the kind of practical steps many take to enter the Catholic Church. He joins us.
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Re: The HHS Mandate Confusion
ReplyDeleteAl,
I would agree with you that the opposition to the HHS mandate is not about contraception if the USCCB also opposed other federal mandates imposed on hospitals and insurers. This article from The Huffington Post mentions some federal health care mandates other than contraception. (NB: the article focuses on the individual insurance mandate imposed by Obamacare, not the HHS contraception mandate. But it still makes the point.)
There is the Medicare payroll tax imposed on hospital workers and employers, although a former Republican staffer mentioned in the article, Mark Hayes, "makes a distinction between the payroll tax and the individual health insurance mandate in Obama's health care law."
The article ends by listing other mandates. I'll quote from the article.
"Other federal health care mandates include:
_ The 1986 Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. It requires nearly all hospitals to treat and stabilize anyone needing emergency care, regardless of ability to pay or legal U.S. residency. Critics call it an unfunded mandate. It was part of a budget law signed by President Ronald Reagan.
_ The 1996 Mental Health Parity Act. It prohibits group health plans from setting lower annual or lifetime dollar limits for mental health benefits as compared with medical and surgical benefits.
_ The 1996 Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act. It requires plans offering maternity coverage to pay for at a least a 48-hour hospital stay following most normal deliveries, and 96 hours following a Caesarean section. The mental health parity and maternal health laws were signed by President Bill Clinton."
I don't recall the USCCB getting riled over these other mandates. The bishops did not condemn them as an intrusion on religious liberty. I bet the bishops even support them.
Therefore, the opposition to the HHS mandate is about contraception.