Where Do We Go From Here?

King v. Burwell

• "....The Supreme Court's decision demonstrates that the Court is willing to overstep, as it has in the past, the limited role granted to it by the Constitution, in order to promote a social outcome it finds desirable....While the need for authentic health care reform was apparent long before the Act was approved in 2010, the legislation was poorly drafted and hastily passed in a partisan manner. The confusion about how health insurance should be subsidized pales in comparison with other significant errors written into the Act. We object above all to its provisions for federal funding of abortion, its inadequate protection of conscience rights and religious freedom, and its concentration of health care control in the federal government, which increases the costs of care while disrupting the relationship between patients, doctors, and insurers...." (The National Catholic Bioethics Center, Response to the Supreme Court Decision in King v. Burwell June 25, 2015, © 2015 by the National Catholic Bioethics Center)

Obergefell v. Hodges

•  "Today’s ruling is a substantial victory for equality across our nation...." (U.S. Senator Robert Casey)

• "____" (U.S. Representative Mike Fitzpatrick)

• "____" (U.S. Senator Pat Toomey)

• "....Regardless of what happens at the end of this month, nothing the court says can change what marriage truly is....Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said with a certain rhetorical expressiveness, 'Let the lie come into the world, let it even triumph. But not through me.  The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie.'  We may have to suffer this lie about marriage in the law, but we must not participate in it or keep silent about it...." (Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, 6/11/15 Address to the USCCB (Go to 22:21 of video for his address.))

• "The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision on marriage is not a surprise. The surprise will come as ordinary people begin to experience, firsthand and painfully, the impact of today's action on everything they thought they knew about marriage, family life, our laws and our social institutions. The mistakes of the court change nothing about the nature of men and women, and the truth of God's Word. The task now for believers is to form our own families even more deeply in the love of God, and to rebuild a healthy marriage culture, one marriage at a time, from the debris of today's decision" (Archbishop Charles J. Chaput).

• "Regardless of what a narrow majority of the Supreme Court may declare at this moment in history, the nature of the human person and marriage remains unchanged and unchangeable....I ask all in positions of power and authority to respect the God-given freedom to seek, live by, and bear witness to the truth" (Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops).

• A sample of what pope Francis has recently been saying about marriage/family:
  Pope Francis, 4/15/15 General Audience
  Pope Francis, 4/22/15 General Audience
  Pope Francis, 4/29/15 General Audience
  Pope Francis, 5/6/15 General Audience
  Pope Francis, 5/13/15 General Audience
  Pope Francis, 5/20/15 General Audience
  Pope Francis, 5/27/15 General Audience
  Pope Francis, 6/3/15 General Audience
  Pope Francis, 6/10/15 General Audience
  Pope Francis, 6/17/15 General Audience 
  Pope Francis, 6/24/15 General Audience
  Pope Francis, Regina Coeli, 5/10/15
  Pope Francis to the Bishops of the Dominican, 5/28/15
  Pope Francis to the Bishops of Puerto Rico, 6/8/15
  Pope Francis, 6/13/15 Address to the Italian Superior Council of the Judiciary
  Pope Francis’ 6/14/15 Address to Rome Conference on Parents as Witnesses of the Beauty of Life
  Pope Francis' 6/18/15 Laudato Si
  Pope Francis' 6/21/15 "off the cuff" and prepared talks to youth in Turin
  
  

The First Amendment Defense Act

• Thanking Representative Raúl Labrador (H.R. 2802) and Senator Mike Lee (S. 1598) for introducing the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA) and urging co-sponsorship from their colleagues, Archbishops Cordileone and Lori wrote:

  "As the respective chairmen of the U.S. bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage and the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, we write in strong support of... the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA)....It is becoming apparent that some who promote marriage redefinition do not support the coexistence and tolerance of different ideas in a pluralistic society but instead have a 'comply or else' agenda....The leadership of our Church will continue to promote and protect the natural truth of marriage as foundational to the common good."

  Kudos to Pa Representatives Mike Kelly, Keith Rothfus, and Joe Pitts for co-sponsoring HR 2802.  Shame on Mike Fitzpatrick and other Pennsylvanians in the U.S. House for failing to co-sponsor for H.R. 2802!  Shame on Casey and Toomey for failing to co-sponsor S. 1598!  Tell

  Bob Casey (202-224-6324),
  Mike Fitzpatrick (mikefitzpatrickpa08@live.com),  and
  Pat Toomey (202-224-4254) that this is unacceptable!