US bishops need a new strategy against Obama mandate

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Mar 02, 2012

This weekend would be an ideal time for the leaders of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to reconsider the political strategy they have adopted in their fight against the Obama administration’s contraceptive mandate.

In their bid to undo that offensive mandate, the bishops could theoretically look for help from each branch of the US government: executive, legislative, and judicial. But in the course of this week they have received very clear signs that two of those roads are already closed.

 

• The executive branch—the Obama administration—has portrayed orthodox Catholics as extremists and thus to exacerbate divisions within the Church in America.
• The US Senate defeated a bid to enact the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act, the bishops’ preferred legislative remedy to the mandate. The bill could be brought up for a vote again under more favorable circumstances, but even if a few senators change their votes and the bill gains approval, it is exceedingly unlikely that the margin of victory will be enough to overcome a presidential veto. Since we can be sure that President Obama would veto this legislation, it’s time to face facts: there will be no legislative solution.

True, the USCCB can still hope for help from the judiciary. Cardinal Dolan rightly notes that the courts may be the best bet to overturn the mandate—and perhaps the entirety of the Obama health-care plan. If the Supreme Court rules that Obamacare is unconstitutional, the problem will disappear. But if the courts let the legislation stand, the bishops are out of options.

Or are they?

Having been rebuffed by both the White House and the Senate, the bishops do have one more viable option. They can use their political clout to ensure that next year, the White House and the Senate have different occupants.

President Obama did the USCCB one small favor, by declaring that the contraceptive mandate will not take place for a year. At this time next year we could have a new president. If Barack Obama is re-elected, he will undoubtedly go forward with his plan. But any one of his Republican opponents would reverse the HHS mandate. So are the American bishops prepared to say forthrightly that a President whose policies trample on religious liberty should be replaced?

In the Senate, 51 members—including, sadly, 13 Catholics—voted to ignore the rights of conscience. Are the bishops in the states served by those 51 senators prepared to remind voters that their elected representatives have betrayed their rights?

No doubt the USCCB can and should continue working with the officials now serving in office. But we know now that those efforts have only an infinitesimal chance of success. If the bishops can’t work with the existing office-holders, their best hope for success lies in electing others to those offices.

Under ordinary circumstances it would be imprudent for Catholic bishops to become involved in partisan political contests. But these are not ordinary circumstances. The Obama administration has all but declared its intent to divide the Catholic community, and toward that end the White House is now encouraging Catholics to ignore the hierarchy. The bishops cannot defend their authority effectively unless they are willing to say that a continuation of the Obama administration would threaten the integrity and unity of the Catholic faith.

USCCB leaders have promised that they will continue the fight against the Obama mandate. But will they take the steps necessary for success in that fight? This year’s campaign season will be a test of the American bishops’ resolve.