Andrew Kubrick, Religious Freedom Institute; Dr. Kathleen Berchelmann, My Catholic Doctor; Sister Deirdre Byrne; and Louis Brown, Christ Medicus Foundation, speak on the issue of religious freedom protections for Catholic health care workers on Oct. 24, 2024. / Credit: Rui Barros Photography/Christ Medicus Foundation

Washington D.C., Oct 26, 2024 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Leaders in Catholic health care are rallying behind critical policy initiatives to protect religious freedom in medical care, expressing concerns for the future of their industry should Vice President Kamala Harris be elected.

“The Biden administration, particularly through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and many state governments are engaged in an unprecedented assault on the civil rights of religious freedom and medical conscience rights,” stated Louis Brown, executive director for Christ Medicus Foundation, at an event hosted by the Religious Freedom Institute (RFI) in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.

According to Brown, if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the presidential election and enacts the policy initiatives that her administration has campaigned on, there would be “a massive rollback in health care access nationwide,” directly impacting the health and well-being of underserved communities in the U.S.

“Just days ago,” he said, referring to comments made by the Democratic Party candidate during an NBC interview on Tuesday, “we heard Vice President Harris say that she does not believe in religious exemptions for abortion procedures.”

“I don’t think we should be making concessions when we’re talking about a fundamental freedom to make decisions about your own body,” Harris said when asked whether she would consider religious exemptions with respect to federal laws on abortion. 

“If these religious freedom violations are ultimately successful,” Brown continued, “they would effectively destroy Catholic health care in the United States by making the practice of faithfully Catholic health care unlawful and illegal.”

The United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) reports on its website that there are currently 645 hospitals, 438 health care centers, 1,389 specialized homes, 105 orphanages, 853 day care centers, and 3,449 social services centers in the U.S. Catholic health care network, which assists more than 118 million patients per year.

In his remarks at the RFI gathering, Brown outlined seven key policy initiatives for safeguarding religious freedom and Catholic health care in the U.S. These include allowing faith-based providers equal opportunities to serve patients, enacting protections for human life and dignity, ensuring patients can access life-affirming care, rescinding harmful HHS mandates, and protecting the conscience and religious freedom rights of health care workers.

“When the God-given dignity and love for the human person and the love of God is at the center of health care, all Americans, especially the most vulnerable, are best positioned to live longer, happier, healthier, more joyful lives,” Brown stated.

When asked how Catholics should consider potential concerns with a second Trump administration — such as his proposal for universal IVF coverage and its impact on Catholic providers — Brown highlighted the importance of voting “to do more good and limit evil.” 

“I think for us as Catholics and as Catholic health care leaders, we have to be Catholic first,” Brown said. “Whether it’s law, whether it’s medicine, health care, all these things, it’s Catholic first, and any political support has to be secondary.”

However, he continued, “at the same time, I think when it comes to these the plethora of human dignity issues, particularly in health care, I think the policies of Vice President Harris, they’re absolutely abhorrent on human dignity across the board.” 

“When it comes to the policies of the Trump administration, while very imperfect, [they are] superior on issues of human dignity in health care,” he added. “Absolutely superior.”