Fix Health Care Policy

Online Chat on Religious Freedom

The part of Obamacare that has been getting the most attention is the individual mandate that was recently ruled a tax by the Supreme Court. That isn’t the only onerous provision resulting from Obamacare, though. The HHS Mandate that requires nearly all insurance to cover abortion drugs, contraception and sterilization–regardless of moral or religious objections–is a direct challenge to the religious freedom that is guaranteed to us by our Constitution. Click HERE to read our “Lunch with Heritage” online chat. We were joined by the Director of Domestic Policy Studies Jennifer Marshall. She talked about what Obamacare means for religious freedom, what can be done now, and recent “Fortnight for Freedom” events.

Tags: abortifacients, contraceptives, HHS mandate, ObamaCare, objections, religious freedom, repeal the law, sterilization, Supreme Court decision

Stand Up for Religious Freedom Rallies: Our Rights Are Non-Negotiable

Thousands of Americans are gathering today at 160 locations across the United States to peacefully protest the federal government’s coercive trampling on religious liberty through the Health and Human Services (HHS) anti-conscience mandate.

Today’s Stand Up for Religious Freedom Rallies are a continuance of the events held on March 23 in front of capitols, historic sites, and even the HHS, where the offensive anti-conscience mandate originated.

The demand for protection of religious freedom evidenced in today’s rallies could not be more pressing. In less than eight weeks, the mandate will take effect, forcing all non-exempted employers to provide and pay for coverage of abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization—regardless of their religious or moral objections to such services.

(Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: abortifacients, contraceptives, funding, HHS mandate, rallies, religious liberty, sterilization

Nothing Has Changed: Obamacare’s Anti-Conscience Mandate

The commotion surrounding President Obama’s press conference Friday on the latest Obamacare mandate caused plenty of confusion over the weekend.

But let there be no doubt: Obamacare’s anti-conscience mandate did not change.

While everyone was busy trying to figure out what the convoluted midday proposal actually meant, the Obama Administration went ahead and posted the actual final rule late Friday. It is exactly the same as the August 3 version that created the controversy in the first place.

It states that all insurance plans must cover, at no charge, contraceptives, abortion-inducing drugs, and sterilization. Religious employers like Catholic hospitals, Christian schools, and faith-based pregnancy care centers will still have to provide such coverage regardless of their beliefs. In what some have called the narrowest religious exemption in federal law to date, only churches are exempted.  (Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: abortifacients, accommodation, Catholic hospitals, Christian schools, contraceptives, final rule, Obamacare mandates, self-insured

President Obama’s Unworkable Non-Solution on Conscience

Today, President Obama unsuccessfully attempted to extricate himself from a political crisis of his own making.

The issue is Obamacare’s requirement that health insurers and employer-sponsored health plans cover federally mandated “preventive services” in their benefit packages—with no co-pays for enrollees—and the Administration’s subsequent regulatory requirement that those mandated preventive services include contraceptive products and services—including abortion-inducing drugs.

The “compromise” the President announced today is that contraception coverage “will be offered to women by their employers’ insurance companies directly, with no role for religious employers who oppose contraception. Insurance companies will be required to provide contraception coverage to these women free of charge.”  (Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: abortifacients, compromise, contraceptives, Obama administration, preventive services, religious employers

Many Faiths Unite in Opposition to Obama Attack on Religious Liberty

The Obama Administration’s mandate under the Obamacare statute that many religious employers provide health care coverage for contraception, abortifacients, and human sterilization tramples upon their constitutionally guaranteed free exercise of religion. Secretary Kathleen Sebelius of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced the Administration policy. Many faiths have united in opposition to the Obama Administration attack on religious liberty.

On January 20, 2012, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said that “To force American citizens to choose between violating their consciences and forgoing their healthcare is literally unconscionable.” Also on that day, the National Association of Evangelicals commented that “The HHS rules trample on our most cherished freedoms and set a dangerous precedent.”  (Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: abortifacients, contraception, HHS, human sterilization, mandate, religious employers, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Obamacare’s Contraception Mandate Tramples on Religious Liberty

The Obama Administration’s mandate under the Obamacare statute that many religious employers provide health care coverage for contraception, abortifacients, and sterilization tramples upon their free exercise of religion. The Obama Administration should immediately exempt such religious employers from the contraception mandate. The Administration’s trampling upon religious liberty with the contraception mandate illustrates yet again the need to repeal the Obamacare statute.

What the Obamacare Statute Says

Section 2713 of the Public Health Service Act, enacted by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148) (the “Obamacare” statute), provides that “A group health plan and a health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage shall, at a minimum provide coverage for and shall not impose any cost sharing requirements for— . . . (4) with respect to women, such additional preventive care and screenings . . . as provided for in comprehensive guidelines supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration . . . .”   (Read the rest on The Foundry…)

Tags: abortifacients, conscience rights, contraceptives, mandated coverage, ObamaCare, religious liberty, sterilization