On September 29, the Office of General Counsel of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops offered comments during a meeting on conscience-protection regulations proposed by the Biden administration in January.
Earlier in the year, the Office of General Counsel offered qualified support for the regulations. During the EO 12866 meeting with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the federal Office of Management and Budget, unnamed staff of the USCCB general counsel’s office stated that “this rulemaking is just one of many recent proposals and policies that have raised concern among the bishops about the protection of religious liberty and conscience rights.”
“So our comments submitted on this rule, and our comments here today, are of a piece with a broader effort by the bishops to remind the administration of the need to honor these God-given and historically affirmed rights,” the USCCB general counsel’s office added.