To make matters even worse, on February 10, Mr. Obama mandated that every insurance plan—whether government, individual, or commercial—will cover all FDA approved contraception and sterilization. His edict will require these immoral drugs, devices, and services to be “free” (not subject to co-pays or deductibles.) That means every premium payer will be complicit in providing chemical abortion and sterilization. Under the guise of “preventative care,” war is being waged against religious freedom, conscience rights, and God’s plan for His gift of fertility and human life. These attacks are driven by disdain for the moral teachings of the Church, by the culture of death, and especially by the contraceptive mentality. Healthcare is supposed to prevent death, not prevent life.
We keep hearing, “This is not about contraception. This is all about denial of religious freedom.” Pro-Life Wisconsin has been battling contraception and attacks on conscience rights for over 20 years. Our experience tells us that this is as much about contraception as it is about religious conscience rights.
Of course the unified religious freedom front is encouraging. In fact, all 181 U.S. Catholic bishops are standing together and are backed by thousands of leaders from hundreds of other religious groups. The mandate is becoming so religiously contentious that the president is having to do damage control—trying to divide and conquer Catholics. About freedom of religion, he recently stated, “As a citizen and a Christian I cherish that right. In fact my first job in Chicago was working with Catholic parishes in poor neighborhoods and my salary was funded by a grant from an arm of the Catholic Church.” Obviously with the groundswell of resistance he’s up against he has a lot of damage to control.
The culture of death is really taking a hit as time progresses. As the banter on religious rights expands, awareness of the destructive—even deadly—nature of contraception grows. The words “contraception” and “abortifacient” have become household words because they are being used negatively almost hourly on radio and TV. Not only that, but anti-lifers like Milwaukee congresswoman Gwen Moore and U.S. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius are exposing the contraceptive mentality for what it really is. Moore bizarrely stated, “The National Institute of Health has said that it is a danger to women’s health and safety of their families that for 30 years to be exposed to the prospects of pregnancy.” Sebelius stated that the mandate would cover the cost of the “free” birth control and sterilizations for insurance companies because “the reduction in the number of pregnancies compensates for the cost of contraception.” Perfect representatives of the “family planning” lobby.
Pro-Life Wisconsin has been working to defeat the contraceptive mentality and to defend conscience rights since we were founded 20 years ago. It is a true blessing to have so many new warriors on our side. Our task is daunting. With you and God on our side, we are up to the challenge. We have developed tremendous online and on hand resources that we have been widely using to very effectively proclaim the gospel of life all over Wisconsin.
As we make the most of the unprecedented momentum we are experiencing in this battle, we need your help more than ever. Please prayerfully consider becoming active in Pro-Life Wisconsin today. We can be reached at 262-796-1111 or through prolifewisconsin.org. Together, with lots of prayer, we are turning hearts, one at a time, away from the contraceptive mentality.
Peggy Hamill and her husband, Bob, are the parents of 11 children (10 living and one lost through miscarriage) and grandparents of 12 grandchildren. Peggy served Pro-Life Wisconsin in leadership as a volunteer from 1994–1999. From 1999 to the present, Peggy has been serving as state director of Pro-Life Wisconsin. Peggy’s work at Pro-Life Wisconsin involves combating the contraceptive mentality and educating about the deadly link between contraception and abortion. Legally blind all her life, Peggy passionately defends the right to life of born and preborn people with disabilities.