Little Sisters of the Poor
This administration surely must the worst record on the books in defending religious liberty. You know, that thing our country was founded on? As President Obama and the Democrats continue to wage a vicious culture war against private organizations, the latest victims in their wake are the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Denver-based religious order of Catholic nuns who devote their lives to the care of the elderly poor in 30 nations.
They had been faithfully performing their mission since 1839, with little or no government interference. In fact, their charity has been helping governments around the world take care of their elderly populations for generations. But things changed with passage of the strangely-worded “Affordable Care Act.”
While the Little Sisters have been providing affordable care – actually free care – for nearly two centuries, they were suddenly told by the Obama Administration they now need to somehow provide birth control to their employees, who, by vow, are chaste. So much for keeping the government out of people’s bedrooms cloisters.
The Obamacare regulations have a religious exemption carve out, but it is really a hollow one. If a religious organization does not want to provide contraceptive services as part of their health care plan, they file an exemption, and a third party comes in to provide birth control services. The problem here is that the Little Sisters have no desire to employ people who are getting birth control as part of their employment – as is is against their faith.
This government edict was obviously counter to the Catholic faith that thousands of Little Sisters have dedicated their lives to over the years, but that free exercise clause doesn’t seem to mean much to the Obama Administration.