Sister Carol Keehan of the Catholic Health Association announced this week how pleased she was about the Obama administration’s requirement for all insurance companies to cover contraception without a co-pay.
You might remember Keehan from her public displays of affection for Obamacare or her support of an abortion in a Catholic hospital.
In an open letter this week, Sr. Keehan raises her “concern” about religious freedom but quickly lauds the same government overreach that makes it mandatory. And while this kind of thing has become de riguer from the dissenting Catholic crowd, Sr. Carol Keehan takes it a step further by either pretending she doesn’t know what an abortifacient is or attempting to change the definition of the word.
She actually compliments President Obama for not including abortifacients in the requirements. This is a shocking and disgusting untruth. She writes,
“We appreciate that the Administration does not intend to include abortifacient drugs as covered contraception.”
But according to the AP, “well-woman visits, support for breast-feeding equipment, contraception [including the morning-after pill] and domestic violence screening” will be covered. In fact, the most widely used contraception is “the Pill” which is absolutely an abortifacient.
According to an online medical dictionary an “abortifacient” is defined as “an agent that induces the expulsion of an embryo or fetus.” And while “the Pill” does work to prevent pregnancy, according to experts, it also works to prevent implantation of fertilized eggs.
Conception as we all know refers to the moment at which the sperm penetrates and fertilizes the egg. It doesn’t refer to the later process of implantation which can occur a week after conception. You see, many birth control defenders add implantation to the necessary steps to create an individual, which is as meaningless as adding kindergarten. A woman is pregnant because conception has occurred, not because implantation has occurred.
Sr. Keehan can have her own opinion but she can’t have her own facts.
This is, once again, a horrific and damaging public statement from the Catholic Health Association. And the only really surprising thing about is that it’s not surprising at all.
Note: Below is the entire text of Keehan’s public letter.
The Catholic Health Association is both pleased and concerned by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ (HHS) recent actions on preventive services for women.
We are delighted that health insurance coverage must include critical screening services without any cost-sharing. What to some may seem like small amounts as co-pays for mammograms, pap smears, etc., has proven to be an effective barrier to care for women who have low incomes.
Our hope is that eliminating this barrier will result in earlier diagnosis at a treatable stage of many diseases such as cancer and diabetes. We applaud this aspect of the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine and their affirmation by the Health Resources and Services Administration.
However, CHA is very concerned about the inadequacy of the conscience protections with respect to the coverage of contraception. As it stands, the language is not broad enough to protect our Catholic health providers. Catholic hospitals are a significant part of this nation’s health care, especially in the care of the most vulnerable. It is critical that we be allowed to serve our nation without compromising our conscience.
HHS is accepting comments on its definition of religious employer and has invited alternative definitions. We will be submitting written comments to HHS and will continue our dialogue with government officials on the essential need for adequate conscience protections.
We appreciate that the Administration does not intend to include abortifacient drugs as covered contraception. Our comments will address our concerns about the mechanism of action of certain FDA-approved contraceptive drugs.
The requirement applies to all forms of birth control approved by the Food and Drug Administration. That includes the pill, intrauterine devices, the so-called morning-after pill, and newer forms of long-acting implantable hormonal contraceptives that are becoming widely used in the rest of the industrialized world.
Coverage with no copays for the morning-after pill is likely to become the most controversial part of the change. The FDA classifies Plan B and Ella as birth control, but some religious conservatives see the morning-after drugs as abortion drugs.
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