NEW HAVEN — Waving colorful signs and flags, hundreds of Catholics and other Christians gathered Friday to protest a federal rule governing the availability of contraception.
Hundreds of protesters in New Haven Green vowed Friday to intensify their opposition to a new federal health care rule with a two-week prayer event. (Wes Duplantier/Courant)
About 400 protesters crowded onto the New Haven green to demonstrate their opposition to a federal rule announced in January requiring employers to provide health insurance coverage of contraceptives. They also pledged prayer and fasting later this month to emphasize their opposition.
The Catholic church has been outspoken against the rule, even after the Obama administration offered a compromise that would exempt religious institutions from the rule and instead have their insurance companies pay for the contraceptives.
Hartford Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Peter Rosazza said the compromise still violates Catholics’ beliefs because many churches and church-run operations are self-insured.
“It is the church who has to pay,” Rosazza said. “Since it is against our norms to pay for those services, forcing us to do so violates our religious freedom.”
Rosazza said the Catholics oppose the federal rule because it conflicts with their tenets, but also because they feel the rule is part of an attempt by the Obama administration to shrink the meaning of religious freedom to only include the freedom of worship and not a freedom to espouse those views publicly.
The rally drew little in the way of a counterprotest, but Tyler Jones, a restaurant server from New Haven, sat under a tree nearby, calling out to the rally’s speakers to address allegations of sexual abuse that have been leveled against the church in recent years.
Jones, a southern Baptist who is native to Alabama, said the Catholic church shouldn’t be completely excluded from discussing political subjects, even if it blurs the line between separation of church and state.
“They have a right to talk about political subjects,” he said. “But if you believe in keeping the government out of the church, maybe you should keep the church out of the government.”
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6 Responses to Hundreds rally against Obama administration rule on contraceptives
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What “if you believe in keeping the government out of the church, maybe you should keep the church out of the government.” supposed to mean? That is just gibberish.
I am not Catholic but I have no problem with letting Catholics be Catholics. They do seem to be under constant attack. If something is against their religion, the Obamination Administration has no right to force it upon them.
The SCOTUS will have the last word on this and I think they are going to side with the Catholics.
Wisconsin was a vote of Union Domination that is supported by the DEMS vs. the TAXPAYER, unlike CT where the taxpayer gets thrown under the bus time and time as the Courant and the Dems support the Unions, the rest of the country is changing. Wisconsin like CT had a $3.5 Billion dollar budget shortfall.
THe Tale of 2 Choices….Wisconsin cut back on Union benies, cut taxes, and proivate sector grew more jobs and they now have a surplus. WOW that worked GREAT!! CT’s Dannel and the DEMS proceeded to Tax, Tax and no cuts to the Unions (you know the Unions that send millions of our TAX dollars to the likes if Donovan and the rest of the Dems) the result is companies leaving CT taking the tax dollars they would have paid with them,
Tax the Rich and the guys at the Greenwich $9 Billion hedge fund moved out of CT to Florida, no income tax in FL Bob….how will CT get the money it needs from them? Since Dannel started his Sharred sacrifice, the middle class in CT are the losers…..Marlin Firearms afert 141 years in CT moved to NY. Pfizer moved 1100 jobs to MA, Prat & Whitney time and time again moves jobs out of CT…..no taxes from them! Those left must pay more and more. YES, the Death of the way the Dems do busineess with the Unions is happening in Wisconsin, California and RI but not in CT.
CT raised taxes Billions and is still Broke! The current path is unsustianable!
Hunderds against Obama…how refreshing to see the Courant report WHAT is going on…last April 4,500 protested Taxes in CT at the Capitol, no coverage to be found…yet the dozen or so “on Wall Street” were covered about daily….coverage when it fits your agenda?
Good job, Rosie…give ‘em heck…religious freedom is one of the last freedoms we enjoy as Americans…the rest have been legislated away….
When 23 state supreme courts ruled that Catholic hospitals insurance plans have to cover their employees.
Maybe these people should have a Christian Scientist making their insurance decisions. They would not receive a blood transfusion. Apparently they want that.
Wow, yet no one stops to think that everyone is being forced to pay for these churches using prime peoperty, while our taxes are raised oh and our tax subsidies are going to them. You know what? if you stop and think about it people in the old days used the other hole as birth control whether the woman liked it or not oh and sometimes the boys. What the man says goes. Surely you are not trying to put us back in the dark ages. when the churches pay taxes only then should any religion even have a right to say a darn thing about politics.