Dear Friends,
In August, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed an interim rule that required virtually all private health care plans, except those that met a very narrowly tailored religious exemption, to cover sterilization and all FDA-approved contraception, including abortifacients ella and Plan B. HHS reaffirmed the rule on January 20 but delayed implementation for one year for non-exempt religious organizations to change their moral or religious convictions.
President Barack Obama tried unsuccessfully to alleviate the religious liberty issues raised by this rule. However, his compromise does not fix the underlying issues, because it still forces religious employers and employees, who have moral objections to sterilization, abortifacients, and contraception, to subsidize them.
The bottom line is that, despite President Obama’s “compromise,” this rule undermines religious liberty tenets of the Constitution and conscience laws that have been in effect for over 30 years. Requiring faith-based employers, like Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee, to include free abortion-inducing drugs in their health insurance plans is contrary to both Christian doctrine and constitutional guarantees of religious freedom. When religious groups and individuals are forced to deny their deeply held religious convictions it is called “tyranny.”
That is why Senator Roy Blunt’s (R-Missouri) amendment, Respect for Rights of Conscience, (S. AMDT. 1520) to the Transportation bill is so crucial! This amendment ensures that those who participate in the health care system “retain the right to provide, purchase, or enroll in health coverage that is consistent with their religious beliefs and moral convictions.”
Please Act Right Now: Call your Senators at 202-224-3121 and ask them to support the Blunt Amendment. Don’t let this President put the stake in our religious liberty!
Sincerely,
Penny Nance
Chief Executive Officer and President