WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. Catholic Church's challenges to the federal government's contraceptive mandate under the health care law is not an attempt to "throw" the presidential election in favor of one candidate or against another, said the chairman of the bishops' Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Freedom. Speaking with members of the Catholic Press Association in a conference call June 6, Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori said the bishops' campaign emerged because of the federal government's attempt to force religious organizations to pay for health services that violate fundamental religious principles. The mandate was announced Aug. 1, 2011, as part of the rules the Department of Health and Human Services is issuing to implement the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed in 2010. Along with the mandate, HHS released a four-pronged religious exemption that has raised objections among Catholic Church officials and others who say it is so narrow that most religious employers will not qualify. On Jan. 20 of this year, HHS announced that nonprofit groups that do not provide contraceptive coverage because of their religious beliefs will get an additional year "to adapt to this new rule." Said Archbishop Lori in the 45-minute session: "It's important to say the struggle we are engaging in here is not a partisan issue. We didn't choose the time. We didn't choose the place. We're not trying to throw an election. We're simply trying to defend fundamental freedoms. It's not a Republican or Democratic issue. It's not a Catholic issue. It's a freedom issue," he said.
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