The Little Sisters of the Poor and the HHS Mandate

The Little Sisters of the Poor are an international Roman Catholic Congregation of women Religious founded in 1839 by St. Jeanne Jugan. They operate homes in 31 countries, where they provide loving care for over 13,000 needy elderly persons.

Although the Little Sisters' homes perform a religious ministry of caring for the elderly poor, they do not fall within the government's narrow exemption for "religious employers." Accordingly, beginning on January 1, the Little Sisters will face IRS fines unless they violate their religion by hiring an insurer to provide their employees with contraceptives, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs.

I am continuing to pray for the defunding of Obamacare and its horrific HHS mandate, which threatens to punish so many innocent people -- like these Sisters, who care for the poor and elderly and the people they serve. This is so wrong.

I agree with Helen Alvare who states:

 It’s beyond ridiculous for any government to believe that women care more about free birth control than they care about upholding the very meaning of life: to serve one another in love, in everything we do, at work and at home.

Here in this video are WOMEN religious, the Little Sisters of the Poor, doing incredible work for the elderly and poor … providing a loving presence, health care, even “home”… up to the moment their earthly lives end.  “In this home, nobody dies alone,” says the director of nursing.  We give the “look of love” to every single person, says the director, Sister Mary Bernard.

And this, THIS is what sexual expressionism wants to squash?

The Little Sisters of the Poor do not meet the Obama Administration’s criteria for a “religious institution.” So the sisters have a choice—go against their beliefs and obey the Mandate, or pay fines which would put them out of business. The HHS mandate, billed as a boon for women, would crush the work of these WOMEN, who are caring mostly for other women (given women’s longevity), as well as men.  Crush it why?  So Sandra Fluke and other women nowhere near the poverty line can get birth control for 20-50 dollars less per month than they’re paying now? (For poor women, the government provides free birth control via myriad programs. See this excerpt of a law article I wrote.)

What about the right to die with dignity? To be given the “look of love” to the very end?

Thankfully, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty sued on behalf of the Little Sisters of the Poor. And it’s looking likely that the Supreme Court will soon take up the constitutional and statutory religious freedom claims raised by the mandate.