Mitt Romney, one of the front-runners seeking nomination as the Republican Party’s candidate in the 2012 presidential election, has spoken out in support of Catholic bishops opposing the Obama administration’s regulation that will force employers with over 50 employees to provide insurance coverage for surgical sterilization, contraceptives, and embryocidal drugs. He states, “Such rules don’t belong in the America that I believe in.” [Romney Blog] However, opponents may recall that, while governor of Massachusetts, he refused to exempt Catholic hospitals from a requirement to dispense the morning-after pill to rape complainants.[Boston Globe]
Erroneous assumptions illustrated by editorial
In an editorial titled, “Birth Control: Now a human right,” the Charleston Gazette has expressed support for the Obama administrations regulation that will force objecting employers to provide insurance coverage for “contraceptive services.” The editorial illustrates five common unexamined and questionable assumptions frequently made by opponents of freedom of conscience in health care.
- First: it assumes that ‘birth control’ and ‘contraception’ are equivalent terms; they are not.
- Second: it assumes that contraception is a form a health care, something that many objectors deny.
- Third: in failing to recognize the distinction that objectors make between contraception and treating illness or injury, it draws the erroneous conclusion that they might refuse to treat sexually transmitted diseases.
- Fourth: it asserts that birth control (by which it clearly means contraception) is a “human right,” although this has not been legally established.
- Finally: it suggests that employers who do not pay for employees’ birth control are interfering with their freedom.
EU Commissioner for Human Rights supports right to conscientious objection
Thomas Hammarberg, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, has issued a statement supporting the exercise of conscientious objection to military service. He argues that objectors should be given a “genuinely civilian” alternative to compulsory military service, not imprisoned. [CE press release]
Speaker of U.S. House considers HHS mandate unconstitutional
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner has stated that he believes the HHS “preventive services” contraceptive mandate violates the U.S. constitution, and expressed hope that the Obama administration would reconsider it. White House Press Secretary said that the issue was not being reconsidered: ” the decision has been made.” [ Associated Press]
Rubio Introduces Bill To Repeal ObamaCare Mandate Against Religious Freedom
NEWS RELEASE
Rubio: “This is a common sense bill that simply says the government can’t force religious organizations to abandon the fundamental tenets of their faith because the government says so.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) today introduced the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012, a bill to repeal a new ObamaCare mandate that violates the religious liberties and conscience rights of faith-based institutions by forcing them to offer employees insurance coverage for contraceptives.
Earlier this month, the Department of Health and Human Services finalized a new mandate that would require most church-affiliated organizations to offer their workers private insurance coverage without out-of-pocket charges for birth control. The administration ignored efforts by numerous faith-based organizations to be granted an exemption on religious grounds.
“The Obama Administration’s obsession with forcing mandates on the American people has now reached a new low by violating the conscience rights and religious liberties of our people,” said Rubio. “Under this President, we have a government that has grown too big, too costly and now even more overbearing by forcing religious entities to abandon their beliefs. This is a common sense bill that simply says the government can’t force religious organizations to abandon the fundamental tenets of their faith because the government says so.”
The text of the legislation is available here.