A message from our friends at CatholicVote.org:
Today, the Little Sisters of the Poor go to Washington.
They are in the Supreme Court of the United States today pleading for the right
to care for the elderly poor across America.
Yes, you read that right.
The Little Sisters must plead their case because the infamous Obamacare
HHS mandate requires them to contract with insurance companies to facilitate
payment for abortion drugs and other medicines and procedures which violate
Church teaching.
Under this terrible mandate, even religious charities like the Little
Sisters are required to comply. If they refuse, they will be fined millions of
dollars and be forced to shut down -- abandoning the elderly poor they care for
every day.
For over 175 years, the Little Sisters of the Poor have heeded Christ’s call to
“feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and shelter the homeless.” They serve the
poor with dignity, respect, and love.
And now, the Obama Administration is threatening to shut them down.
When they asked for relief from this specific mandate, the Obama administration
extended a phony ‘accommodation’. But this so-called accommodation requires
them to sign a form, explicitly granting a third party to provide the
objectionable drugs and services.
Some accommodation that is!
As it turns out, this so-called accommodation was nothing more than PR stunt.
The Little Sisters saw right through it, and refused to sign any forms that
compromised their beliefs.
Mother Provincial of the Little Sisters explains how this “opt-out” form still
violates their freedom:
"Why would the government need
us to provide these services? Everyone knows the government can provide free
services to anyone it wishes without our signing a form. It has always been
clear to us that rather than being an “opt out,” the form is an opt-in. It
gives the government permission to use our plan to deliver services such as
ella, the week-after pill. The form even says our signature will legally alter
our contract with our insurance provider."
The real motive is plain: to suffocate any dissent and bend the will of
religious people like you and me to the goals of the sexual revolution. Thank
God there are people like the Little Sisters with the courage to stand up and
defend our first freedom -- the freedom to believe and practice our faith!
With the death of Justice Scalia, the outcome of this case remains
uncertain. If the Court splits 4-4, the lower court ruling against the
Little Sisters will stand.
I hope you can take a moment and pray for this case, for the Little Sisters,
and for the cause of religious liberty in America.
The Little Sisters are holding signs outside the Supreme Court that read: “I’ll
have Nun of It.”
Yes, indeed.
