Dear Parishioners,

Today I would like to tell you about something that deserves immediate attention. The Health and Human Services Department (HHS) is proposing new rules to mandate that faith-based health organizations need to offer abortion and gender transition services. This of course goes against our Catholic teachings on conscience and would greatly hamper Catholic hospitals and other organizations. The USSB would like as many people as possible to let their voices be heard against such a mandate which is apparently being proposed on October 3rd. Details can be found here: https:// www.usccb.org/section-1557-alert (And I’ve also posted a link to this on our parish Facebook page.)

I would go beyond what the USCCB is saying here and also add that these procedures (abortion and gender transitions) are very harmful to those who procure them and gravely immoral. In an ideal world, they would both be made illegal. However, we live in a tolerant society where people can get along with each other who believe very different things. The diversity of thought and culture is one of the things that make America great. The mandates that the HHS are proposing are so terrible because it makes everyone come to the same conclusion before the debate is settled. (You can see the statistics on the above link that show that most people are against these mandates.)

In order to be for abortion, you have to believe that a fetus is not a human or that not all humans deserve basic rights to life. In order to be for gender transition you have to believe that someone can be born the wrong gender and that it is possible for someone to change gender with medical technology. All of this runs against common sense, let alone the faith. If someone believes otherwise, they may make an argument why and we can have dialog. What one cannot do is force someone to believe something that their reason tells them is obviously false.

So, if anyone would like to talk about any of these issues or for me to explain them more deeply in these articles, feel free to reach out. In the meantime, keep praying for our country and make your voices heard.

God bless!

FFr. Carter