Dear Friend,
As the year comes to a close I want to thank you for your willingness to stand with St. Gianna Physician's Guild by signing our "Stop the Birth Control Mandate" petition. This government mandate is certainly one of the greatest threats to conscience rights in our country at this time.
After announcing the new policy, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) opened a two month window in which it asked the pubic to provide input on the measure that would oblige institutions to provide sterilization and birth control in all health care plans. During that time period St. Gianna Physician's Guild sent a letter to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, expressing our outrage and disagreement with this dictatorial mandate and included a copy of our petition signed by several thousand individuals from all walks of life. The number of petition signers continues to grow every day.
To date there has been no response to our letter sent to HHS. However, there is still time for us to show our opposition and try to prevent this from taking effect on August 1, 2012. We will continue to aggressively oppose this in the new year. We will keep you updated as new developments arise.
During this holy Christmas week I ask that we join together to pray for our country's elected officials, physicians and other health care professionals that they may have the courage and inspiration to stand up for the truth.
St. Gianna Physician's Guild looks forward to working with you in 2012 in reviving the spiritual heartbeat of America.
Sincerely Yours in Christ,
Thomas J. McKenna
President, St. Gianna Physician's Guild