The following are excerpts
from an e-mail I received from Father Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests
for Life
On June 28 Kathleen
Sebelius announced the White House’s final guidelines for the infamous HHS
mandate.
Not surprisingly, the
persecution of you, Priests for Life and the People of Life continues! All the government did was allow another six
months to comply; which means that come midnight December 31, we must either:
·
Bow to the Obama
administration, violate our conscience, submit to the HHS mandate and become
direct participants in the willful killing of our unborn brothers and sisters.
·
Or defy the
government, remain true to God and our pro-life principles, and take a stand
for life and religious freedom!
You know my decision. It is the same as yours. Neither you nor I
nor Priests for Life will ever give in to the HHS mandate or any government
threat.
Not today. Not tomorrow. Not
ever!
I’m not going to take up a
lot of your time re-hashing all the arguments for why we are opposing this act
of tyranny on the part of the Obama administration. You already know them.
What I will remind you is
that the Obama administration is determined to force you to take a direct and
active role in the murder of your unborn brothers and
sisters. The President’s arrogance and disdain for
those who “cling to God” is such that, like the schoolyard bully, he thinks he
can run roughshod over you and me and anyone else who stands in his way or
dares to defy him.
Well, when it comes to you
and Priests for Life and all champions of the unborn ...... he’s picked a fight
with the wrong people!
As I said, we will never
submit to this blatant act of tyranny.
That’s why we filed our
original lawsuit last year. We did so in
order to protect you, your conscience rights, your pro-life principles and your
freedom to practice your religion as you deem fit.
And we won an agreement
from the government that Priests for Life did not have to pay any fines for
non-compliance with the HHS mandate.
This was a temporary victory, however, and was set to last until the
government issued new regulations regarding the mandate.
You’ll remember my writing
to you back in February and urging you to take part in the 60-day review period
for “citizen input” on the proposed standards – and to voice your total and
complete opposition to the regulations.
Rather than listen to you
and address our legitimate concerns, Obama’s people huddled together and
decided that there will be no let-up in their persecution of you, Priests for
Life, the Catholic Church, people of faith and America’s pro-life movement. None.
Instead, they drew a line
in the sand and compel you and Priests for Life to submit to their pro-abortion
agenda.
And because they did, I
went ahead and instructed our attorneys to be pro-active, draft all the
necessary papers, and re-file our lawsuit against the HHS mandate!
As I told you a moment
ago:
PRIESTS FOR LIFE WILL
DISOBEY THE MANDATE RATHER THAN VIOLATE OUR CONSCIENCE AND TAKE PART IN THE DIRECT
KILLING OF OUR INNOCENT UNBORN BROTHERS AND SISTERS.
And because we will, it is
critically important that we be financially prepared to re-file our lawsuit the
moment our attorneys tell me it’s ready. We must win a PERMANENT INJUNCTION if
we are to defend our pro-life principles and protect our First Amendment right
to freedom of religion. To do so,
however, I must have your generous and immediate financial help so that we are
able to see our lawsuit through to final and complete victory!
When all is said and done,
I expect Priests for Life will spend well over $100,000 to see our lawsuit to
its conclusion ... which could include a hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The bottom line is this: Until
this unjust mandate is entirely and permanently struck down, we must turn to
the courts to protect our First Amendment right to oppose abortion and practice
our religion free from government coercion! And remember, I’m not the only one
who recognizes that reality. Our U.S. bishops do so as well.
That’s what Archbishop
William Lori, who chairs the USCCB’s Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty,
told me a short time ago when he thanked me and Priests for Life for having the
courage to file our lawsuit. He also
issued a statement in which he said:
As Chairman of the Ad Hoc
Committee for Religious Liberty, I am writing to express deep gratitude to the
scores of people and organizations — from various denominations and walks of
life — who have challenged the HHS mandate in federal courts around our country
over the last year. We continue to pray
for the success of all of these lawsuits.
... As Cardinal Timothy Dolan, President of the USCCB, stated [in
response to] the [government’s] latest proposed rule [on the HHS mandate]:
“[W]e will continue to stand united with brother bishops, religious
institutions, and individual citizens who seek redress in the courts for as
long as this is necessary.” Catholics in
America have ... consistently supported the rights of individuals not to act
against their religious beliefs or moral convictions, especially when
individuals seek to protect the dignity of human life.
“Protecting the dignity of
human life” is precisely what you and Priests for Life are all about.
Our mission is to advance
the cause of life, end legalized abortion-on-demand in America, and protect the
youngest and most vulnerable members of our human family. But our First
Amendment right to fulfill that mission is now threatened.
As I’ve told you previously,
we’re going up against the full might and power of the federal government. President Obama and his pro-abortion allies
will spare no expense and hold nothing back in their unbridled attempt to
compel us to bow before the state.
Putting all of our trust
in God, we are prepared to go forward full-steam ahead. We are doing so for
you, for all pro-life activists, for our fellow Americans, and most especially,
for the youngest members of our human family – our unborn brothers and sisters.
I beg you to stand with us
in this fight and make as large a contribution to our “Legal Fund” as you
possibly can.
Make no mistake. The HHS mandate unjustly impacts all
employers, not just churches, religious groups, and health care institutions, which
means that in all probability … it impacts YOU directly!
Besides, the rule is
unjust. You don't adapt to injustice;
you oppose it. That is especially true
for us because Priests for Life’s primary purpose is to promote and protect
life … whereas the primary purpose of the HHS mandate is to prevent and destroy
life. And now that the White House has
issued its final guidelines for the HHS mandate, I’m counting on you to click
here and help us re-file our lawsuit.
Thank you. May God bless. And please include our lawsuit and the
attorneys who will be arguing our case in court in your daily prayers.
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