Next Weeks USCCB Mtg & The Ad Hoc Cmte on Religious Liberty | National Catholic Reporter

Next Weeks USCCB Mtg & The Ad Hoc Cmte on Religious Liberty | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: I agree that ad hoc committees should not be allowed to continue.  They should either be made permanent or killed.  Its time for this one to die.  The Church should never get into wedge issue politics - especially when the USCCB staff is being expertly played by Valerie Jarrett (NOT Kathleen Sebelius) from the White House.  The Religious Liberty Campaign was essentially a reaction to the War on Women campaign - and the Democrats got the better of it by a long shot in 2012.  It has long been time to end this Ad Hoc Committee - the issue is done for the most part, as the CHA leadership that represents the Catholic institutions most impacted - hospitals - has agreed that the Administration accomodation is adequate.  Indeed, it was always adequate because health insurance companies have had to provide contraception in preventative health policies since December 2000, when the EEOC said they had to (and the USCCB did not object).  The only change is copayments.  What the USCCB really needs to examine is how closely some of its pro-life staff and the bishops in the pro-life movement are involved in Republican Party politics (including my own Bishop of Arlington, Virginia).  The question is not whether they are involved by how consciously their involvement is. This could be a good first stop at addressing the issue - but I doubt they have the courage to take it.