Catholic News Agency:US bishops say contraception mandate coerces religious groups

[Anthony] Picarello [general counsel for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops] and bishops’ conference associate general counsel Michael Moses submitted an August 31 comment to the Department of Health and Human Services criticizing its requirement that insurers provide sterilization and contraception, including some drugs like Ella which can cause abortions.

It is “an unprecedented attack on religious liberty” to require that religious people and groups sell, broker or purchase services to which they have religious or moral objections, the attorneys said.

Under the new mandate, religiously-affiliated employers will be “affirmatively barred” from offering a plan to the public, or even to fellow believers, that excludes objectionable items.