Follow the employer rules

Re: “CHA joins opposition to reform law’s birth-control rule,” ModernHealthcare.com, June 15: I find it unfortunate that the Catholic Church finds it must assert its beliefs to the detriment of others. As an employer, a hospital should provide all the benefits required by law.

If I were a non-catholic and happened to work for a CHA hospital, it would be offensive to not receive a health benefit because of the church’s position.

I am a Catholic, but I think other persons have the right to their religious beliefs. I wouldn’t want to work for a hospital that prevented me from getting and displaying ashes on Ash Wednesday or other aspects of practicing my beliefs. Now I know, having abortion counseling or an abortion is not the same as displaying ashes on my forehead, but the point is that you start taking away one right after another. It is a slippery slope.

As an employer, follow the rules or get out of the business of being an employer. If CHA hospitals accept this pressure, they should advertise: “Do not apply for a job here unless you are willing to adhere to Roman Catholic Church tenets.”

As a Catholic, I would choose not to work under such rules. I would be worried about how the church and the bishops would attempt to regulate my practice. For example, I watched the impact of how the prohibition on the use of condoms contributed to the increase in HIV/AIDS in South Africa after they had a downtrend built upon encouraging people to use condoms. Is it better to watch people die?

How can the church and the bishops ask people to do what they cannot? Many of them have demonstrated their inability to comply with the abstinence rule, they now want compassion for “human beings,” yet they do not appear to have any for others.

Robinetta Wheeler

Fremont, Calif.