As per Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops,"the Administration issued its final rule regarding the HHS mandate, which requires healthcare coverage for sterilization, contraception, and drugs and devices that may cause abortions....the statement United for Religious Freedom—issued by the U.S. bishops' Administrative Committee in March 2012, and affirmed by the entire body of bishops in June 2012—provides the framework for examining the final form of the HHS mandate.  That document identified three categories of religious freedom problems in the mandate—in short, problems with the 'religious employer' exemption; problems with the 'accommodation' for employers deemed not 'religious enough' for the exemption; and problems with the lack of any exemption or 'accommodation' for individuals and for-profit businesses.That is, we are concerned as pastors with the freedom of the Church as a whole—not just for the full range of its institutional forms, but also for the faithful in their daily lives—to carry out the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ....At this point,...our study has not discovered any new change that eliminates the need to continue defending our rights in Congress and the courts."

In defiance of the USCCB, Sister Carol Keehan's Catholic Health Association of the USA has proceeded with an "approval" of the mandate, effectively "throwing under the bus" any who struggle to be faithful witnesses in the face of open assaults on conscience (See http://www.chausa.org/newsroom/women's-preventive-health-services-final-rule.). 

As per a 7/12/13 posting by Pat Archbold of the National Catholic Register (i.e., This newspaper is affiliated with EWTN and NOT to be confused with the National Catholic Reporter.): "The CHA, in this crucial moment for religious freedom in this country, is on the other side....the competent ecclessial authorities must remove permission for the CHA to use the word Catholic in their name. This must be done immediately. The CHA is not Catholic and they must not be allowed to use the name when they are in open opposition to the Bishops and Church teaching. This is most especially true with all the pending litigation against the mandate by Catholic institutions. The Bishops cannot allow the Church to seem divided on this question....If we are to save truly Catholic healthcare in this country, we must amputate the rotting limbs immediately or risk losing the patient"

We respectfully request that Cardinal Dolan and the entire United States Conference of Catholic Bishops immediately remove the designation of "Catholic" from the group heretofore known as the Catholic Health Association of the USA.

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