Robert Tremaine’s letter of July 1, “Keep your faith to yourself,” is really an attack on Catholic teaching.

Catholic moral reasoning is a contribution to public discourse on life, procreation and marriage. It is not discounted by sexual misbehavior by priests. Note, the discovery, prosecution, counseling and compensation, plus the implementation of Protecting God’s Children, has resulted in real reform and very few new cases of sexual abuse in recent years.

Catholic charitable institutions and nonprofits are among the largest resources for health care and education in this country. They must not be mandated to pay for insurance, directly or indirectly, that covers sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraceptives that contradict their mission to respect human life and health.

Fertility is a wholesome gift. Children are a blessing. It is a distortion to see sterilization, abortion and contraception as preventive health. Pregnancy is a new human life, not a disease.

Further, religious liberty is the first freedom and requires that the government respect the conscience rights of institutions, health care providers and pro-life Americans who value life and oppose the HHS mandate.

The Catholic Church has plenty of solid moral ground to stand on. This is a contribution, not to imprint, but to enlighten.

Margaret Yates, Wilton