FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Robert B. Aguirre 
(210) 734-1653 Office
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

SAN ANTONIO, TX (January 31, 2012) – In response to last week’s Health and Human Services final rule that all employers provide insurance to cover preventive services, including all FDA-approved forms of contraception, the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders (CALL) has issued a message to President Obama: “We call on all Catholics – especially Hispanic Catholics – to pray for the president.”

As widely reported, on January 20th President Obama, through a stroke of his presidential pen, decreed the elimination of the constitutionally provided religious exemption used by employers who object to a requirement that their insurance plans include coverage for contraception and sterilization as part of a list of preventive services.

“President Barack Obama has not just given the Catholic community a slap in the face, he is telling Hispanic Catholics to limit our families and forget our religious beliefs,” said CALL President Robert Aguirre.

“If ever there was proof that this administration takes the Hispanic vote for granted it is in this policy so lacking in respect for us, for our faith and for the religious liberty upon which this country was founded. It is an insult to our intelligence to disguise anti-life products as ‘healthcare’ and then force us to pay for it,” said Maria Suarez Hamm, a CALL member in Washington, D.C. “Hispanics nationwide must take this new policy into account when developing an informed decision in the voting booth,” she stated.

Speaking on behalf of CALL, an organization comprised of Hispanic Catholic business and professional leaders, Aguirre referenced a speech to gathered Catholics on Sunday, May 17, 2009 in which “this president stood before us and pledged these words: ‘Let’s honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause.’” In doing so he promised that he would respect the religious beliefs and liberty of those who would reject the notion of abortion on the basis of morality, faith and conscience. Today we see what was not apparent yesterday - the president’s promise was nothing more than a shell game.

“For Hispanics who have been hit harder than any other group by this president’s economic policies we can now add an assault on our faith as Catholics because it demeans our belief in life and it obliterates our constitutional protection of religious freedom. He is telling not just Hispanic Catholics – but all people of faith – that our faith-formed opinions have no place in the public square,” explained Aguirre.

“Hispanics are people of faith and family and these values are as unique as our culture,” stated Aguirre. “We believe that family and faith are not to be separated and we deplore in the strongest terms possible this administration’s attempt to curb the religious liberty of Hispanic families,” he added.

CALL (Catholic Association of Latino Leaders) is a national organization comprised of lay people dedicated to promoting the common good of the Catholic Church and of the nation. Established on the premise that it is the particular vocation of the laity to transform the world through “faithful citizenship,” CALL members do so by finding new and culturally relevant ways to preserve and promote the values of their faith--especially within the historical context that Hispanics were the first American Catholics. Internally, CALL provides a forum for members to strengthen their faith in community through prayer, education and service. Externally, CALL provides programs, services and events for the benefit of their faith, the community and the country. CALL has chapters established in Los Angeles, Orange County, Phoenix, Denver, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Milwaukee, Miami and Washington DC.