Texas Insider Report: Washington DC Amidst the many policy prescriptions of Tuesdays speech President Barack Obamas State of the Union address was notably void of comment on the religious liberty conflicts his own Administration has created. In yet another assault on religious organizations freedom the Obama Administration released a decision Friday afternoon finalizing an Obamacare health insurance mandate that will restrict the religious liberty of employers to act in accordance with their conscience.
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released a finalized version of an Obamacare mandate that will require almost all insurance companies to cover contraceptives and sterilization without cost to the insured starting August 1 of this year.
Like the interim version of the rule released this past summer the final mandate requires coverage of all FDA-approved contraceptives including controversial drugs like ella and Plan B that can cause abortions in early pregnancies.
Employers with deep religious and moral objections to subsidizing coverage for such services are left largely unprotected by the mandates offensively narrow religious exemption. Indeed the exemption covers only organizations whose primary duty is to inculcate religious belief"effectively excluding religious employers such as schools hospitals and social service organizations.
Outcry from religiously affiliated employers including two lawsuits against HHS over the lack of protection for religious freedom had bolstered hopes that the Obama Administration would change the mandate or at least broaden its religious exemption.
Those hopes failed last week as Secretary Sebelius announced the Administration would not provide robust protection of religious liberty but would give employers with religious objections an additional 12 months for more time and flexibility to adapt to the new rule." Apparently according to the Secretarys reasoning dilemmas of conscience are easily dismissed when merely given enough time and flexibility."
However as Hannah Smith legal counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has pointed out Religious colleges universities and hospitals will never pay for abortion drugs in violation of their religious beliefsthis year or any other year."
The Becket Fund is leading litigation in two lawsuits against the mandate representing Belmont Abbey College and Colorado Christian University arguing that forcing religious employers to subsidize medications and procedures they find morally objectionable flies in the face of religious freedom.
By providing education health care and countless social services religiously affiliated organizations play a profound role in sustaining civil society. Policymakers should protect the religious freedom of these organizations and all employers and individuals to buy and provide insurance in accordance with their deeply held beliefs about life and health.
Texas Insider Report: Washington DC Amidst the many policy prescriptions of Tuesdays speech President Barack Obamas State of the Union address was notably void of comment on the religious liberty conflicts his own Administration has created. In yet another assault on religious organizations freedom the Obama Administration released a decision Friday afternoon finalizing an Obamacare health insurance mandate that will restrict the religious liberty of employers to act in accordance with their conscience.
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released a finalized version of an Obamacare mandate that will require almost all insurance companies to cover contraceptives and sterilization without cost to the insured starting August 1 of this year.
Like the interim version of the rule released this past summer the final mandate requires coverage of all FDA-approved contraceptives including controversial drugs like ella and Plan B that can cause abortions in early pregnancies.
Employers with deep religious and moral objections to subsidizing coverage for such services are left largely unprotected by the mandates offensively narrow religious exemption. Indeed the exemption covers only organizations whose primary duty is to inculcate religious belief"effectively excluding religious employers such as schools hospitals and social service organizations.
Outcry from religiously affiliated employers including two lawsuits against HHS over the lack of protection for religious freedom had bolstered hopes that the Obama Administration would change the mandate or at least broaden its religious exemption.
Those hopes failed last week as Secretary Sebelius announced the Administration would not provide robust protection of religious liberty but would give employers with religious objections an additional 12 months for more time and flexibility to adapt to the new rule." Apparently according to the Secretarys reasoning dilemmas of conscience are easily dismissed when merely given enough time and flexibility."
However as Hannah Smith legal counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has pointed out Religious colleges universities and hospitals will never pay for abortion drugs in violation of their religious beliefsthis year or any other year."
The Becket Fund is leading litigation in two lawsuits against the mandate representing Belmont Abbey College and Colorado Christian University arguing that forcing religious employers to subsidize medications and procedures they find morally objectionable flies in the face of religious freedom.
By providing education health care and countless social services religiously affiliated organizations play a profound role in sustaining civil society. Policymakers should protect the religious freedom of these organizations and all employers and individuals to buy and provide insurance in accordance with their deeply held beliefs about life and health.
