Don't be afraid or discouraged by the HHS mandate. Listen and learn from these women speaking out against religious liberty.

"Christian, recognize your dignity and, now that you share in God's own nature, do not return to your former base condition by sinning. Remember who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Never forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of the Kingdom of God." 

--Pope St. Leo the Great, as cited in the CATECHISM, par. 1691.

Ok, so I thought it was best to start out with the hope we have.

I'll admit that, earlier this week, I was a discouraged by the way the Senate voted on the Blunt amendment with regard to the current assault on the Catholic Church, and others, regarding the HHS Mandate. I think Kathryn Lopez said it rather succinctly: "The majority of the Senate did not want to protect the First Amendement. Thanks, guys." She reminds: "Elections matter."

I'm not a political pundit, and I may not have all the compelling political arguments about this down pat. But I'm someone who takes our moral obligations as Christians seriously.

I know one thing. Silence is great virtue when it comes to prayer. But not so much when it comes to issues of justice. Better stated, perhaps, we must draw strength from the silence of our prayer and move out from there into the world.

We must meet God in the sanctuary of our conscience, and then live in such a way so as to protect the rights of conscience in the individual, and in our country at large, in terms of our First Amendment right to religious liberty in the Constitution. 

The dignity of the human person demands that we protest this affront to conscience and religious freedom. The law of love demands that we act based on our care for our neighbor.

The world needs your credible witness and mine. Sure, it's scary. But it is necessary. 

This is Lent. We've got the spiritual tools to combat sin and injustice.

• Fasting.
• Prayer.
• Alms.

We've got the social and political tools to defeat this mandate and to be a force for good in our world.

• Speaking up and protesting.
• Signing petitions.
• Voting.

The most important tool is our own voice in our spheres of influence.

You may have heard claims that this is a contraception issue and a women's issue. But it is first and foremost an issue of conscience and religious liberty, an issue dear to women and men of many religious traditions. 

Let's not have people wonder, where are the women who care about this?

Let's make sure we can say: Here. We. Are.

While there are many people across the country speaking out about this. We need the passionate voices of women to be seen and heard, and not just Catholic women.

So I'd like to offer the rest of this post as a roundup of women speaking out on this subject.

As reported on NRO, Helen Alvare and Kim Daniels sent this reply to the Obama administration. And they have a petition going that I encourage women to sign over at WomenSpeakforThemselves.com

Here's the Heritage Foundation's Women Speak Out: Obamacare Tramples Religious Liberty panel:



Here's another good panel -- listen to the audio from the Catholic Information Center's event, partnered with AltCatholicah, Women Challenging the HHS Mandate, with a lively panel of very qualified women from the legal and medical professions discussing this subject matter.


I'm adding my voice here...

You may have already heard this, but Kathryn Lopez and Elizabeth Scalia reviewed the basics of this debate a few weeks back on Among Women. 

I love the hope in that opening video that we have as Catholic Christians. I have always loved that quote from Pope St. Leo. Let me encourage you to strongly consider your role in this struggle.

Pray. Hope. Act.

------
Other women speaking out in related articles:

• Professor Janet Smith, also hear her conversation with Drew Mariano on radio.
• Theologian Pia Di Solenni
• Sr. Mary Ann Walsh
• Marybeth Hicks
• Peggy Noonan
• Elizabeth Scalia
• Emily Stimpson
• Hillary Senour
• Alveda King
• Cathy Ruse
• Kat Fernandez
• Carrie Severino

Earlier posts on this blog about with links to this subject:

• 3.3.12
• 2.11.12
• 2.4.12
• 1.28.12
• 11.6.09

The AW podcast on this subject.