Protection of Conscience Project News
Service, not Servitude
Senators Joe Manchin and Mario Rubio have introduced “Bill S2092 -the Religious Freedom Protection Act of 2012.” The bill is drafted to stop the Department of Health and Human Services regulation enacted by the Obama administration for the purpose of forcing employers to pay for insurance coverage for surgical sterilization, contraceptives, and drugs. The bill offers protection to individuals and entities opposed to facilitating such services for reasons of conscience or religion.
NEWS RELEASE
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.