By Bob Allen Former Carter Center adviser and one-time magazine publisher Gary Gunderson has been named vice president for faith and health ministries at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Gary Gunderson Gunderson comes from a similar post at Methodist LeBonheur…
Head of Baptist medical/dental group stepping down
By Bob Allen Dr. Fred Loper is stepping down May 31 as executive director of the Baptist Medical Dental Fellowship to become medical director of a local charitable Christian medical clinic in the Oklahoma City area. Fred Loper Loper, formerly…
Shepherd’s Clinic provides service to working poor
By Alice Horner It’s Tuesday afternoon in what at first looks like a typical doctor’s office. Phones are ringing and copiers beeping. Then there is something different: laughter. Employees and patients are really enjoying themselves. Welcome to Shepherd’s Clinic, a…
The contraception mandate fight
By David Gushee Congress passed the Affordable Care Act in 2010 over the strenuous objections of the Republican opposition (which continues to view it as illegitimate and hopes to see it struck down very soon). In an effort to advance…
Baptist college sues over contraceptive mandate
By Bob Allen A Baptist college in Louisiana is suing the federal government over a requirement that religious schools and hospitals cover contraceptives in insurance for their employees, including birth control pills that induce abortion. The Alliance Defense Fund filed…
Expert: Church-state problem result of employer-based insurance system
By Bob Allen A Baptist church-state scholar says religious liberty concerns about new coverage mandates come with the territory in America’s employer-based health insurance system. Melissa Rogers Melissa Rogers, director of the Center for Religion and Public Affairs at Wake…
Colson, George compare Obama health-care mandate to Nazis
By Bob Allen Two Baptist thinkers describe President Obama’s requirement that religious organizations include contraception in their employees’ health-care coverage as what some term a “Niemoeller moment” reminiscent of the slippery-slope devaluation of human rights that occurred in Nazi Germany….
Baptist leaders welcome adjustment to birth control coverage rule
By Bob Allen Baptist leaders applauded President Obama’s Feb. 10 announcement that insurance companies must pay for birth-control services for women who work for religious institutions that object to paying for them on moral grounds. “This is a positive step in…
SBC insurance provider not satisfied with Obama compromise
President Obama’s compromise plan for mandatory coverage of contraceptives does not solve religious liberty concerns for the Southern Baptist Convention’s insurance provider, GuideStone Financial Resources President O.S. Hawkins said in a statement Feb. 10. GuideStone’s medical plan is self-funded, Hawkins…
Baptist leader says contraceptive mandate should be revised
Brent Walker By Bob Allen The head of a Baptist religious liberty watchdog group said Feb. 8 that the Obama administration should return new health-care regulations to the drawing board to address religious liberty concerns. The Affordable Care Act, also…
Land says Obama mandate most anti-Catholic government action in 150 years
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention’s top public-policy expert said Feb. 4 that President Obama’s health-care mandate covering contraception is the most anti-Catholic action by government since the denial of taxpayer funding to parochial schools. “This ruling by the…
Contraception and the rosary
By Zachary Bailes The Obama administration recently initiated a directive requiring religious institutions to offer coverage for contraception in their health-care plans. Among those raising concerns is the Catholic Church. Contraception and Catholic theology aren’t compatible it seems, and in…