Catholic Bishop Lynch vows to thwart health care law
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The bishop appears to object to provision covering contraception and reproductive matters in the law, and then claims to be taking a stand for individual moral conscience. Since any individual has the choice to make their own decision on whether or not to use any part of health insurance, for contraception or otherwise, I can only assume that the bishop means taking a stand against the moral conscience of those who disagree with his dogma.
Bishop Robert Lynch, leader of nearly a half-million Tampa Bay Catholics, surprised two dozen judges and 300 lawyers Wednesday by promising to thwart the federal health care law. It was a departure from his traditional homilies on the virtues of judicial wisdom.
If draft regulations aren’t changed, Lynch said, the Diocese of St. Petersburg will no longer provide health insurance for its 2,300 employees.Bishop Robert Lynch, leader of nearly a half-million Tampa Bay Catholics, surprised two dozen judges and 300 lawyers Wednesday by promising to thwart the federal health care law. It was a departure from his traditional homilies on the virtues of judicial wisdom.
If draft regulations aren’t changed, Lynch said, the Diocese of St. Petersburg will no longer provide health insurance for its 2,300 employees.
“I’m extremely uncomfortable with even thinking of such a thing,” Lynch said, speaking at the noon Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in downtown Tampa.
But he said the church is at a “moment of history” in which it must take a stand for “religious liberty and individual moral conscience.”
Lynch didn’t name specific portions of the health care law, but the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops recently condemned draft regulations that require private health care plans to cover contraceptives. The proposed plans provide some exemptions for religious organizations but the church says they don’t go far enough.