The Administration is ignoring the law in implementing Obamacare, while violating the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act by enforcing Obamacare’s contraception mandate
Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, joined by Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Mike Lee, R-Utah, and David Vitter, R-La., filed an amicus brief today in support of the challenge by Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties against Obamacare’s contraception mandate.
“The First Amendment guarantees every American the right to free exercise of religion,” said Sen. Cruz. “Yet, the Obama Administration has chosen repeatedly to break the law by giving breaks to big business and Congress, while refusing to grant those same waivers to people with sincerely held religious beliefs.”
In the brief, the senators document the numerous ways in which the Obama Administration has unilaterally ignored the text of the law, while at the same time failing to protect Americans’ religious liberties.
“The various delays and exceptions that the Administration has announced all have one effect: exempting even more health care plans from the requirements of the ACA,” the brief says. “In each instance, the beneficiaries of these exemptions are the politically powerful and well-connected. The Administration, however, refuses to grant the same leniency to those for whom the contraception mandate violates their sincere religious beliefs.”
Specifically, the senators point to the Administration’s unilateral decision to delay the health insurance requirements, the cap on out-of-pocket costs, the expansion of the employer mandate penalty, and the granting of health subsidies to Members of Congress and Congressional staff as examples of how the Administration has ignored the text of the law.
“We will not stand by as President Obama continues to skirt the law, selectively enforcing Obamacare and hand-picking winners and losers to satisfy his political agenda,” said Sen. Cornyn. “I join in filing this brief to protect the rights of all Texans and all Americans to practice their religious beliefs without obstruction from the federal government.”
“The ability to practice the faith we choose is one of our great Constitutional rights. The Obama administration’s contraceptive mandate stomps on that right,” added Sen. Vitter.
