From: | John K. |
Sent on: | Sunday, April 11, 2010, 5:05 AM |
Mandatory ObamaCare Doesn���t Apply to Muslims
Jerry A. Kane ("Canadian Free Press," April 5, 2010)
Washington, USA - ObamaCare���s
���pay-or-play��� mandates require that ���all��� Americans
carry essential health insurance coverage or face penalties; however,
���all��� really doesn���t mean all after all. The recently signed
bill contains a clause exempting certain religious groups, American Indians,
illegal immigrants, and hardship cases (prison inmates) from ObamaCare���s health insurance mandate.
Senate Health Care Bill H.R. 3590 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,
statute 18 (5) EXEMPTIONS FROM INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
reads���
...In the case of an individual who is seeking an exemption certificate under
section 1311(d)(4)(H) from any requirement or penalty imposed by section 5000A,
the following information:
(A) In the case of an individual seeking exemption based on the
individual���s status as a member of an exempt religious sect or division,
as a member of a health care sharing ministry, as an Indian, or as an
individual eligible for a hardship exemption, such information as the Secretary
shall prescribe.
The Amish are exempt because they believe it is their church���s
responsibility to care for the material needs of the members, not the
government or insurance companies. When members of the Amish community have
need of a doctor or a hospital, they get financial help from their church and
neighbors and pay in cash for the services.
The clause is not exclusive to the Amish alone; it also applies to any individual
whose religion does not believe in insurance.
���[P]eople who are conscientiously opposed to
paying for health insurance don���t have to do it where the conscientious
objection arises from religion,��� said Mark Tushnet
a Harvard law professor.
According to a reputable Islamic Web site managed by Sheikh Muhammed
Salih Al-Munajjid,
Islam���s Council of Senior Scholars have issued fatwas
(decrees) that not only prohibit Muslims from purchasing risk insurance, the fatwas also prohibit them from working for companies that
provide such insurance or any other form of commercial insurance.
The Council���s fatwas brand risk insurance
contracts ���haraam��� (forbidden) declaring
that such contracts are based on probability and extreme ambiguity, gambling
and riba (usury). However, Muslims are permitted to
use health insurance that is paid for through a compulsory tax, such as the
so-called ���free��� health care provided by U.S. hospital emergency
rooms for those without insurance or can���t pay or government programs such
as Medicaid and Medicare for people with low incomes and senior citizens
respectively.
Members of religious groups applying for exemption from ObamaCare
must prove to Health and Human Services bureaucrats that they are citizens and
actual members of the recognized religious groups. The law requires the HHS
Secretary to match the applicant���s personal information with the records
on file at the Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland
Security to prove citizenship and religious status.
While the new law requires most Americans to sign up with insurance companies
or government insurance plans, it���s clear that the Amish, Muslims, and
possibly Christian Scientists will be permitted to claim exemption from the
government mandates as conscientious objectors of having to carry health
insurance.
���If the government can tolerate a religious exemption, then it must do so
evenhandedly among religious believers with the same beliefs. This is sheer
favoritism for a certain class of religions, or even for one religion,���
wrote Marci A. Hamilton, a professor and lawyer at Yeshiva University���s
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York.
It is highly unlikely though that HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will grant
equal permission to members of Christian and Jewish sects who will also face a
serious moral dilemma when they are forced to purchase health insurance from
providers that pay for abortions under the pretext of providing preventive
care.
ObamaCare���s religious conscience exemption
clause embodies the change Brother O���s Bread and Circuses regime brings
to the new America. While Brother O considers all religious groups equal, being
nuanced, he recognizes that some groups are more equal than others.