Zenit interview on HHS Mandate

This is one of the best explanations of why we must oppose the mandate, so please take the time to read it.  I didn’t want to copy the whole thing here — do blogging rules allow that? — but there’s a link to read the rest.  Please do!

http://www.zenit.org/article-34467?l=english

CONTRACEPTION MANDATE AND FORMAL COOPERATION

Christendom College Theology Professor Explains Moral Implications for Catholics

By Ann Schneible

WASHINGTON, D.C., MARCH 16, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Catholic schools, hospitals, and charities throughout the United States are facing the possibility of being forced, by law, to violate Church teaching under the Obama administration’s Health and Human Services Mandate.

Under the HHS Mandate, most Catholic institutions will be required to pay for abortifacients, contraceptives and sterilization in their employees’ health insurance plans.

William H. Marshner is professor of theology at Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia. He recently spoke with ZENIT about the moral implications that the mandate could impose upon American Catholics.

ZENIT: To start off with, why is contraception morally prohibited by the Catholic Church, and why is it immoral for us to pay for others who wish to use it?

Marshner: We can’t justly be forced to pay for it because that means that we’re cooperating with it. So the question is, why is the act immoral? I mean, if it weren’t immoral, we’d be okay to cooperate with it formally or otherwise.  Why is it an immoral act? Because it is a willful violation of a key part of a woman’s health, and a man’s health. Fertility is part of health. Pregnancy’s a healthy development. You cannot call contraceptive practice a medical service; it’s not aimed at a medical problem.

There’s a fundamental dishonesty about performing acts per se act for the procreation of children, and then covertly doing something to undermine those acts so that they can’t have that effect. It’s as though I said, let’s go off and play golf. I bet I can beat you. And unbeknownst to you, I have gone around and filled up the little holes so your ball can’t go in. This is a dishonest golf-game.  It’s also similar to saying, well, I’m going to play poker but I’m not going to lose any money.  How am I going to ensure that? Ace up the sleeve. A contraceptive is like an ace up the sleeve.  I’m going to play, but pregnancy’s not going to happen.  Why?  I’ve got an ace up my sleeve. It’s an internal chemical thing, or it’s an IUD, or whatever it is.  But contraception is a falsification of an act which ought to be a marital act.

read the rest here: http://www.zenit.org/article-34467?l=english

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