WASHINGTON — Four committee chairmen of the U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops May 24 praised proposed regulations to restore "the
long-standing position of the federal government that discrimination on the
basis of 'sex' does not refer to 'termination of pregnancy' nor 'gender
identity.'"
Earlier in the day the Department of Health and Human Services
released its proposal to overturn the Obama administration's HHS health care
discrimination rule that took effect in January 2016 to implement a civil
rights provision of the Affordable Care Act known as Section 1557.
Section 1557 provides that individuals cannot be subject to
discrimination based on their race, color, national origin, sex, age or
disability. Current HHS regulations governing implementation of this section
have no exemption for religious organizations.
As it stands, Catholic hospitals and health care providers are
required to perform or provide gender transition services, hormonal treatments
and counseling as well as a host of surgeries that would remove or transform
the sexual organs of men or women transitioning to the other gender. It also
requires group health plans to cover these procedures and services.
The current regulations also mandate abortions be performed and
affect health insurers, hospitals and health plans administered by or receiving
federal funds from HHS.
The new modifications proposed by HHS under the Trump
administration "follow the legislative intent of the Affordable Care Act
to ensure nondiscrimination on the basis of sex in health care," the
bishops said.
"(They) would help restore the rights of health care
providers — as well as insurers and employers — who decline to perform or cover
abortions or 'gender transition' procedures due to ethical or professional
objections," the bishops said. "Catholic health care providers serve
everyone who comes to them, regardless of characteristics or background.
However, there are ethical considerations when it comes to procedures. We are
grateful for today's important step."
The four chairmen who signed the statement were: Archbishop
Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kan., Committee on Pro-Life Activities;
Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, Fla., Committee on Domestic Justice and Human
Development; Bishop James D. Conley of Lincoln, Neb., Subcommittee for the
Promotion and Defense of Marriage; and Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of
Louisville, Ken., Committee for Religious Liberty.
On Nov. 6, 2015, the USCCB joined with nine other faith-based
organizations in stating their objections to what were then the proposed
regulations to implement Section 1557 of the ACA. During the open comment
period, they filed a joint letter addressed to the HHS Office for Civil Rights.
"We agree that the prevention of sex discrimination in
health programs and activities is a laudable statutory goal," the groups'
letter said. "Everyone should have access to health care and health
coverage."
However, they said, the final regulations needed "to make
clear that they do not demand involvement in abortion, force religious
institutions to cover objectionable services, or employ definitions of sex
discrimination and other terms that exceed federal law."
Their comments called for an exemption that would, at minimum,
"state that the prohibition on sex discrimination shall not apply to a religious
organization if such application would not be consistent with the religious
tenets of such organization."
Besides the USCCB, the groups signing on to the 2015 letter were
the National Catholic Bioethics Center, the National Association of Evangelicals,
the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention,
Christian Medical Association, Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance,
Christian Legal Society, World Vision (U.S.), Liberty Institute and Family
Research Council.