| Obamacare: Its Latest Assault on Religious Freedom |
With every passing day, Obamacare becomes more
entrenched as the law of the land. The latest reality is a Health and Human
Services (HHS) mandate that requires health plans to provide contraception,
sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs. Even an employer or organization
with religious objections can be forced by the government to provide coverage
for medications and procedures against which they have deeply-held convictions.
This is an intentional act of discrimination against people's religious beliefs
and a violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The Obamacare HHS mandate is being challenged in court. One of those challenges is from a family-owned company that simply wants the right to administer its health plan in a way that is consistent with the owner's beliefs. It's also worth noting that forcing insurance companies to provide contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs "free of charge" means the cost is likely to be passed along to that insurer's customers, even those who morally oppose contraceptives and/or abortifacients. I have cosponsored a bill that would end this intrusion (HR 1179), and I've cosigned amicus briefs in support of pending lawsuits which challenge the mandate. Health care reform should never violate individual liberty, especially people's religious freedom. Sincerely,  JOHN FLEMING, M.D. Member of Congress |
