by Denise Burke, Vice President of Legal Affairs, Americans United for Life
We woke this morning to news that Mitt Romney has selected pro-life Catholic Rep. Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate. Much will be made in the coming days of Rep. Ryan’s leadership on budget and fiscal issues and his plan to keep America from falling into a financial abyss. However, as a nation, we are not just facing a fiscal crisis. We are also facing very real and growing threats to our First Amendment right to religious freedom and our freedom of conscience. In a relatively short span of time, the Obama Administration has
· Forced an unpopular and anti-life healthcare law down the throats of Americans. “Obamacare” includes an “abortion-premium mandate” that will effectively force millions of Americans to violate their consciences by being enrolled into healthcare policies (principally, through the law’s new state health insurance exchanges) that will require direct personal payment into a special insurance fund set up to pay for other people's elective abortions. Individual enrollees will not be permitted to opt-out of paying this “abortion-premium mandate.”
· As of August 1, 2012, required many employers and religiously affiliated organizations to provide and pay for insurance policies that cover contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs – also known as the “HHS mandate” or the “contraceptive mandate.”
· Argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that churches do not maintain the right to hire only those who share their beliefs and that federal authorities such as the Labor Department have a say in who churches hire and fire.
· Through rulings by the National Labor Relations Board, taken it upon themselves to determine which Catholic colleges and universities are truly “Catholic enough” to be exempt from certain labor laws governing unions and unionization.
And this is only the tip of the iceberg of what the Obama Administration has in store for America and the Church.
In this dangerous climate, we must gratefully recognize Rep. Ryan’s praiseworthy leadership in the defense of religious freedom. From the debate over “Obamacare” to more recent battles over the HHS contraceptive mandate, Rep. Ryan has strongly defended both religious liberty and freedom of conscience, noting: “The President's policy continues to contradict the core principles of our nation. His decision [on the contraceptive mandate] disrespects not only the religious community, but it also disrespects the Constitution. By treating our rights as revocable privileges from our government, instead of inalienable gifts from our Creator, the President has put his personal political philosophies above the principles upon which this nation was founded. I will continue to monitor this issue closely and will work to see that this policy is reversed.”
Notably, Rep. Ryan is a cosponsor of H.R. 1179, the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act. This piece of federal legislation would amend the President's healthcare law to permit health insurance plans to decline coverage of specific items and services that infringe upon religious beliefs and freedom of conscience.
We woke this morning to news that Mitt Romney has selected pro-life Catholic Rep. Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate. Much will be made in the coming days of Rep. Ryan’s leadership on budget and fiscal issues and his plan to keep America from falling into a financial abyss. However, as a nation, we are not just facing a fiscal crisis. We are also facing very real and growing threats to our First Amendment right to religious freedom and our freedom of conscience. In a relatively short span of time, the Obama Administration has
· Forced an unpopular and anti-life healthcare law down the throats of Americans. “Obamacare” includes an “abortion-premium mandate” that will effectively force millions of Americans to violate their consciences by being enrolled into healthcare policies (principally, through the law’s new state health insurance exchanges) that will require direct personal payment into a special insurance fund set up to pay for other people's elective abortions. Individual enrollees will not be permitted to opt-out of paying this “abortion-premium mandate.”
· As of August 1, 2012, required many employers and religiously affiliated organizations to provide and pay for insurance policies that cover contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs – also known as the “HHS mandate” or the “contraceptive mandate.”
· Argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that churches do not maintain the right to hire only those who share their beliefs and that federal authorities such as the Labor Department have a say in who churches hire and fire.
· Through rulings by the National Labor Relations Board, taken it upon themselves to determine which Catholic colleges and universities are truly “Catholic enough” to be exempt from certain labor laws governing unions and unionization.
And this is only the tip of the iceberg of what the Obama Administration has in store for America and the Church.
In this dangerous climate, we must gratefully recognize Rep. Ryan’s praiseworthy leadership in the defense of religious freedom. From the debate over “Obamacare” to more recent battles over the HHS contraceptive mandate, Rep. Ryan has strongly defended both religious liberty and freedom of conscience, noting: “The President's policy continues to contradict the core principles of our nation. His decision [on the contraceptive mandate] disrespects not only the religious community, but it also disrespects the Constitution. By treating our rights as revocable privileges from our government, instead of inalienable gifts from our Creator, the President has put his personal political philosophies above the principles upon which this nation was founded. I will continue to monitor this issue closely and will work to see that this policy is reversed.”
Notably, Rep. Ryan is a cosponsor of H.R. 1179, the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act. This piece of federal legislation would amend the President's healthcare law to permit health insurance plans to decline coverage of specific items and services that infringe upon religious beliefs and freedom of conscience.
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