HHS Mandate is a Battle, the War is Rights of Conscience, Says Life Legal Defense Foundation
The war over Obamacare has spilled onto the streets and is being waged in the Supreme Court. Citizens are fighting for their rights – and the right of conscience is center stage. This weekend, the battle moves to San Francisco where a unique gathering, “Make Straight the Pathway,” tackles the right of conscience head-on.
“This is about having the freedom to act in accordance with what one believes is right. We recognize conscientious objectors in war – the Obama healthcare mandates are just as deadly,” explained Dana Cody, Executive Director of the Life Legal Defense Foundation (LLDF), which is hosting the conference.
Since 1989 LLDF has defended the civil rights of pro-life advocates and has advised them on rights of conscience. However, in 2011, LLDF received exponentially more legal counsel calls from medical professionals who had conscientious objections to dispensing drugs harmful to human life. Of primary concern were contraceptives.
Make Straight the Pathway presents an integrated and unified solution for Catholic healthcare reform and has drawn the attention of religious and healthcare leaders from across the country. Attendance at the symposium will include healthcare administrators, medical practitioners, pastors, lay leaders, hospital workers, and concerned citizens from across the faith, health, and political arenas.
Ms. Cody, one of the presenters at the event, will address how to:
Advocate for state and federal public policy that actively protects and promotes religious liberty and individual right of conscience in healthcare, and allows all Americans to select qualified health plans that do not violate their religious liberty.
Develop Culture of Life Primary Care Medical Centers.
Establish a National Catholic Health Plan that is Christ-centered and consistent with the Ethical and Religious Directives (ERDs) of Catholic Healthcare.
San Francisco’s harmonious Hotel Kabuki provides the setting for the three-day conference, March 29 through March 31. The seminar’s focus is on equipping attendees for right of conscience advocacy. “The goal is to collectively push for state and federal policy that actively protects and promotes religious liberty and individual right of conscience in healthcare,” said Cody, “because each American should have the freedom to select qualified health plans that do not violate their religious liberty.”
Bishop Robert E. Vasa of the Diocese of Santa Rosa will speak on “Giving Poisoned Water to the Thirsty.” Vasa has been outspoken on life issues and healthcare and is a noted advocate for making Catholic-based healthcare more intentionally Catholic. As the March 20, 2010 letter from the U.S. Bishops to Congress stated, “Healthcare reform that protects the life and dignity of all, especially the poor and vulnerable, is a moral imperative and an urgent national priority.”
About the conference: Make Straight the Pathway: An Integrated and Unified Solution for Catholic Healthcare Reform, March 29 - March 31, 2012, Hotel Kabuki and St. Mary's Cathedral event center, San Francisco, CA. Presented by the Life Legal Defense Foundation and Christus Medicus Foundation. More information is available at the LLDF website.
About the Life Legal Defense Foundation
Life Legal Defense Foundation is a non-profit organization composed of attorneys and other concerned citizens, committed to giving helpless and innocent human beings of any age, and their advocates, a trained and committed voice in the courtrooms of our nation. For more information, go to www.lldf.org
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