After almost three weeks, CBS finally brought on a member of the Catholic hierarchy on Thursday's CBS This Morning to discuss the Obama administration health care mandate that forces Catholic institutions, like hospitals and colleges, to violate their consciences and pay for abortion-inducing drugs and contraception [audio clips available here]. On Good Morning America, ABC ignored the controversy for the second straight day.
It was also the second straight day that the CBS morning newscast brought on a Catholic cleric for his take about the prominent issue. By contrast, on Tuesday, NBC 's Today turned to their in-house radical feminist, Rachel Maddow, who blasted the completely warranted opposition to the new policy as a "pretty far-right perspective" and "an extension of anti-abortion politics."
Anchor Charlie Rose led the 7 am Eastern hour broadcast with a preview of the interview of Cardinal-Designate Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholics Bishops: "And on Capitol Hill, Republicans vow to take on President Obama's controversial new birth control policy. New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan is here." He, along with co-anchor Erica Hill, teased the interview two more times, before they went live with the archbishop at the bottom of the hour.
Rose first asked the archbishop, "You have had a number of conversations with the President since he has been president and...you've been to the Oval Office. He called you to tell you about this rule. What did you say when you heard him say it?" After summarizing his past contacts with the chief executive, Dolan replied that he "shared with him [President Obama] my consternation. I said, sir, I was so bolstered by your assurances- the same assurances you gave at Notre Dame in your address, the same assurances you gave earlier to the Catholic Health Association- what has happened? Why would you back down from that?...It kind of left very unhappy."
Moments later, Hill followed up by asking, "Have you reached out again to the President since?" The soon-to-be-cardinal answered by expressing his serious reservations, and again cited the Democrat's 2009 speech at Notre Dame:
DOLAN: I haven't. I hope he would understand that I'm a bit skeptical because he gave us some promises at Notre Dame. He gave us some promises in the health care debate to Sister Carol Keehan and Catholic Health Association. He gave me promises. So I'm a little skeptical, and I'm saying, wow, I don't- I hope I can continue to work with him here.
ROSE: So you are saying that the President has gone back on promises he made to you?
DOLAN: I would say, Charlie, that when I left the Oval Office, where I was very grateful for his invitation to be there, I left with high hopes that nothing that his administration would do would impede the good work that he admitted and acknowledged in the Church. And I am afraid I don't have those sentiments of hope now.
ROSE: Do [sic] your conference of bishops want you to be more aggressive and more confrontational in this because it's such an important issue for the Church?
DOLAN: It is an important issue, Charlie. I don't know if confrontation and aggressive is the word. We bishops aren't fighters; we're pastors. We want to stand on principle. We just want to do our work as effectively as we can. So it's not like we're welcoming this. This isn't a fight of our choosing. It was, somewhat, imposed on us.
Later in the segment, Rose, somewhat predictably, raised the point of the significant percentage of Catholic women who use contraception. However, Archbishop Dolan batted down his liberal talking point:
ROSE: But you know that there are surveys that show that a large percentage of Catholic women use contraceptions [sic].
DOLAN: Well, that- yes. We're not into polls. We're into moral principles. But there's also the surveys that show-
ROSE: There's also living- in terms of the living experience of people....It's not just polls.
DOLAN: Yeah. There would also be, though, polls, Charlie, that would show that even those who would disagree with us on the specific issue of contraception and abortifacients, would agree with us on the protection of religious liberty. I got a wonderful letter the other day from an Episcopalian pastor and she says to me, I disagree wholeheartedly with the Church's stand on this issue, but count on me being with you on the front lines in saying the government has no right to tell you what you should do, or to make you obey something that's contrary to your conscience. That's an area where we're all agreeing on.
ROSE: And that's the issue that you're raising...That's the point, that the President said he would not go there and he has.
DOLAN: And I'm afraid he has.
Near the end of the interview, Hill herself tossed another left-leaning point at the Catholic prelate, and name-dropped a diehard feminist senator from California in her question:
HILL: There are also people who make the point that sometimes, people take birth control not to, in fact, control whether or not they get pregnant. Senator Barbara Boxer saying yesterday- I think her number was- 15% of women take it for specific health issues, perhaps, treating endometriosis. Would that matter if it was prescribed for a specific health issue- regulating a cycle?
DOLAN: ...[W]e just have to stick with principle here, and we're just- what we're very reluctant to do- and what I think wise voices are saying- is we can't have a government bureaucracy invading the privacy and the independence and autonomy and the integrity that our Constitution gives to religion.
NBC's Today devoted just two news briefs to the controversy on Thursday morning. Overall, NBC didn't cover the story until February 5, with a panel discussion on Meet the Press. The network's morning and evening newscasts ignored the story until the following evening, on the February 6 edition of NBC Nightly News.
The full transcript of Charlie Rose and Erica Hill's interview of Archbishop Timothy Dolan on Thursday's CBS This Morning:
ERICA HILL: We reported earlier that Republican leaders in Congress are vowing to stop a controversial new Obama administration rule requiring employers to offer birth control and related services in their employee health insurance.
CHARLIE ROSE: One of the most public critics of that mandate has been New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He'll become a cardinal next week in Rome. I'm pleased to have him here. Welcome.
[CBS News Graphic: "Contraception Controversy: Cardinal-Designate Dolan Speaks Out"]
CARDINAL-DESIGNATE TIMOTHY DOLAN, ARCHBISHOP OF NEW YORK: Charlie and Erica, thank you! I'm the one who's grateful to be here- appreciate the invitation and the warm welcome.
ROSE: You have had a number of conversations with the President since he has been president.
DOLAN: I have-
ROSE: And he- you've been to the Oval Office. He called you to tell you about this rule.
DOLAN: He did-
ROSE: What did you say when you heard him say it?
DOLAN: He was kind enough to call on January 20, and, of course, when he told me the outcome, I expressed to him sincerely my disappointment and my disapproval. I had- the last time, I had the honor of meeting with him in the Oval Office was in early November, and at that time, he had said to me, Archbishop, I want to work together. I don't want my administration to do anything with, what I think, is nothing less than stellar work done by the churches, particularly- he was talking to me- particularly by the Catholic Church in the area of education, health care, and charity and justice. He said, I don't want anything we do to be an impediment, and I take the protection of conscience and religious freedom as one of my highest responsibilities.
So I shared with him my consternation. I said, sir, I was so bolstered by your assurances- the same assurances you gave at Notre Dame in your address, the same assurances you gave earlier to the Catholic Health Association- what has happened? Why would you back down from that? Now, why are we at loggerheads in noble endeavors, where we should be cooperating and in friendship? It kind of left me- it left very unhappy.
ROSE: But do you know why?
DOLAN: I don't know why- no- and I'm still wondering. It seems to be at odds with the very sincere assurances that he gave me, that he wanted to continue to work with the Church in these endeavors and views and projects that he shared passionate interest in. So I can't figure it out, and that's why I'm hoping that, in this massive negative reaction to this ruling, I'm hoping that he'll go back to those assurances that he gave me.
HILL: Have you reached out again to the President since?
DOLAN: I haven't. I hope he would understand that I'm a bit skeptical because he gave us some promises at Notre Dame. He gave us some promises in the health care debate to Sister Carol Keehan and Catholic Health Association. He gave me promises. So I'm a little skeptical, and I'm saying, wow, I don't- I hope I can continue to work with him here.
ROSE: So you are saying that the President has gone back on promises he made to you?
DOLAN: I would say, Charlie, that when I left the Oval Office, where I was very grateful for his invitation to be there, I left with high hopes that nothing that his administration would do would impede the good work that he admitted and acknowledged in the Church. And I am afraid I don't have those sentiments of hope now.
ROSE: Do [sic] your conference of bishops want you to be more aggressive and more confrontational in this because it's such an important issue for the Church?
DOLAN: It is an important issue, Charlie. I don't know if confrontation and aggressive is the word. We bishops aren't fighters; we're pastors. We want to stand on principle. We just want to do our work as effectively as we can. So it's not like we're welcoming this. This isn't a fight of our choosing. It was, somewhat, imposed on us.
ROSE: So, suppose the President says, come to the Oval Office, and his question to you is the following: I realize this is hotter than I imagined it might be-
DOLAN: (laughs) Uh-huh-
ROSE: What would you suggest? He says to you, I do now.
DOLAN: I would say, thank you, sir. I appreciate your openness. Let's get to the bottom of this. You have already signaled a possible area where we can work on, in the very mandates themselves put out by HHS. There is a religious exemption, all right? The religious exemption is very choking and very tight. There's a restriction there that we can't live with. Simply, in the best American principles of freedom of religion, simply give a much more dramatically wide latitude to that religious exemption and protection of conscience and religious freedom, and you're not going to hear from us anymore.
ROSE: But you know that there are surveys that show that a large percentage of Catholic women use contraceptions [sic].
DOLAN: Well, that- yes. We're not into polls. We're into moral principles. But there's also the surveys that show-
ROSE: There's also living- in terms of the living experience of people-
DOLAN: Yeah-
ROSE: It's not just polls.
DOLAN: Yeah. There would also be, though, polls, Charlie, that would show that even those who would disagree with us on the specific issue of contraception and abortifacients, would agree with us on the protection of religious liberty. I got a wonderful letter the other day from an Episcopalian pastor and she says to me, I disagree wholeheartedly with the Church's stand on this issue, but count on me being with you on the front lines in saying the government has no right to tell you what you should do, or to make you obey something that's contrary to your conscience. That's an area where we're all agreeing on.
ROSE: And that's the issue that you're raising-
DOLAN: That's the issue that- yeah-
ROSE: That's the point, that the President said he would not go there and he has.
DOLAN: And I'm afraid he has.
HILL: Does- you seemed to open the door. Compromise is kind of a tough word these days. You said if he would expand the definition there. Is that what you would see as some sort of a compromise?
DOLAN: Yeah- I don't know. You're right, that's- Erica, it's good. I don't know if we can compromise. I think that what seems to be - we can't compromise on principle. It seems to be clear now- is that this was a terrible- terribly misguided judgment. So let's not compromise on that. That's almost rewarding bad behavior. Let's simply go back to the starting line, and see how we can live with this without violating conscience or principle. I would prefer the word 'conciliatory.' Again, I say this: we don't want to fight. When I went into the Oval Office with the President, he started off by reminding me of the tremendous areas where his administration works closely with the Catholic Church and with other religions. And I said, sir, you bet, and we want to keep doing that, and please don't tie our hands and being unable to do that in the future.
HILL: Depending on who's talking about this issue, it's referred to as a religious liberty issue, a health issue, a women's rights issue-
DOLAN: Uh-huh-
HILL: There are signs of all of that in there-
DOLAN: Sure-
HILL: There are also people who make the point that sometimes, people take birth control not to, in fact, control whether or not they get pregnant-
DOLAN: Sure-
HILL: Senator Barbara Boxer saying yesterday- I think her number was- 15% of women take it for specific health issues-
DOLAN: Sure-
HILL: Perhaps, treating endometriosis- would that matter if it was prescribed for a specific health issue- regulating a cycle?
DOLAN: Erica, you're right. Even in Catholic theology- even in the strictest Catholic theology, there would be windows of opportunity where somebody, for a restricted reason, could use these. So that could be. But we just have to stick with principle here, and we're just- what we're very reluctant to do- and what I think wise voices are saying- is we can't have a government bureaucracy invading the privacy and the independence and autonomy and the integrity that our Constitution gives to religion.
ROSE: We hope to have you back here. In the meantime, you're off to Rome.
DOLAN: So I hear. (Hill, Rose, and Dolan laugh) You want to come?
ROSE: I'd love to come- you bet.
DOLAN: (laughs) I'm kind of glad to get out of town with all this going on-
HILL: I can imagine why- (laughs)
ROSE: We want you to continue this debate as we learn more about how this unfolds. But congratulations to you as you're off to Rome-
DOLAN: Thank you, Charlie- thank you-
ROSE: And when you come back, it will be cardinal.
DOLAN: Thank you! Invite me back. I'd love to come-
ROSE: We would like to have you-
DOLAN: You got good doughnuts out there. (Rose and Dolan laughs)
HILL: We brought in the good stuff just for you.
DOLAN: Thanks.
ROSE: Thank you.
HILL: Thanks again.
— Matthew Balan is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. You can follow him on Twitter here.