Sioux Falls Bishop Criticizes College Speaker

YANKTON, S.D. (AP) — The bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls has sent a letter to clergy saying he isn't endorsing a nun's speech at a private Catholic college in Yankton.

Sister Simone Campbell is speaking Thursday night at Mount Marty College. She is the director of a Catholic social justice education and lobbying group, and an outspoken supporter of the new federal health care law.

Campbell said in comments published in the Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan newspaper that many Catholics have misunderstood the law's mandate that most health plans have to cover birth control for women as a preventive service, free of charge.

Bishop Paul Swain says in his letter that the law doesn't protect religious liberty, and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops opposes it.

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