by Mandy Cox
One of our members shared with us a conversation they had with an employee who was surprised to find that their health plan didn’t pay for their hormonal contraceptive. The employee was not required to be Catholic for the position she held, and during the interview process she had agreed with the mission of the organization. However, it wasn’t until sometime later that the employee discovered that the health plan did not cover her birth control pills.
This situation has likely happened at your workplace. As a member of Catholic Benefits Association, the health plan your organization offers looks different than secular health plans. As more government mandates come down, and CBA wins more protections for our members, the more different the health plan will be from the standard plans out there.
Senior leaders can navigate these conversations by building language that ties the mission of the organization to the benefits offered by the organization.
ALL PEOPLE ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD
The mission of Catholic organizations is founded on the principle that all people should be treated with love and respect because they are the children of God. This motivates all of the good work we do, from education to social services to ministry.
In this teaching we find the foundation of the teaching regarding family planning. Each person is created in the image of God. The person must be respected and cared for, and each person has the responsibility to respect their own bodies as a “temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor 6:19). Spouses are called to respect the gift of their spouse, including their potential for creating life.
LIFE IS A GIFT
Catholics stand firm in the teaching that the life of each person is a gift. Our strong stance on the sacredness of life is most evident in the teachings that abortion is a great human tragedy. It is also directly tied to the efforts of Catholic ministries to provide care and support for every person, from conception to natural death. Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 2258, reaffirms that God’s action to create each human life is the foundation of human dignity.
The teaching that all life is sacred and comes from God is the foundation for the teaching that couples are called to be open to life. Action on behalf of a couple to stop the possibility of life is an action against the author of life, God himself. It is a mortal sin for Catholics to use or participate in the use of contraception or direct sterilization intends to close the sexual act to the possibility of life. This extends to paying for these within the health plan offered by a Catholic business.
NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING
Natural family planning (NFP) is a moral means of family planning that is supported by the Church. These scientifically developed methods allow couples to respect the gift of their fertility, maintain openness to life, and use biological signs to determine times that are naturally fertile and infertile.
While not all employees are Catholic or understand Church teaching, tying the teachings around family planning to the bigger mission of the organization can help them to understand why your organization offers its benefits in line with our faith. Remember that your employees want to serve your mission, and they may never have heard a positive explanation of the Church’s teachings. You can be a great witness of the mission of your organization to each employee you encounter.
Want to learn more? Read our other blogs here and here.