Lawmaker introduces bill to void contraceptives mandate
- Feb 1, 2012 -
With the hourglass now running, millions of Americans are bracing for a crushing blow to their religious liberty beginning this summer. That’s when the sands of basic conscience protections under health care reform will run out. At that point, employers will be forced to “amend” their convictions on the issue of life, presumably just as easily as a top government agency determined its rule requiring as much of the American people.
At issue is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Jan. 20 announcement that most employers must cover sterilization and FDA-approved contraceptives—including abortion-causing drugs—under their health plans, free of charge. The mandate, issued as a final rule guiding implementation of the 2010 health care reform law, has since embroiled the pro-life community—including some lawmakers.
Faced with such an ominous prospect, one lawmaker has just rolled out a bold plan to effectively kill the administration’s mandate before it begins to take effect. On Tuesday, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012, which essentially would render the coming infringement on conscience null and void. The commendable measure would help to take conscience decisions from the government’s control and put them back at the individual’s discretion where they belong.
“This is a common sense bill that simply says the government can’t force religious organizations to abandon the tenets of their faith because the government says so,” said Sen. Rubio.
The Rubio bill would restore religious liberty and conscience rights, specifying that employers cannot be forced to violate their consciences on contraceptives under health insurance plans. A major concern addressed by the legislation is the administration’s very narrow religious exemption. Under the HHS rule, mostly just houses of worship will be covered. That leaves out in the cold countless schools, hospitals, soup kitchens, and charities, for example, that are religiously affiliated. It also fails to cover non-religious business owners who happen to object to the contraceptives mandate.
The measure, one of several bills introduced in recent months to address conscience-violation concerns under health care reform, has garnered enthusiastic support from the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. “We believe the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012 is a necessary means to redress the ill-advised and harmful mandate by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that will force millions of Americans to violate their deeply held religious convictions beginning as early as August 1,” said ERLC President Richard Land in a letter Tuesday to Sen. Rubio.
“By restoring the full rights of conscience on contraceptives under health care,” Land added, “the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012 would address the concerns stated here and help to ensure that health care reform does not undercut religious liberty.”
While HHS has given qualified religious organizations and other non-profits an additional year before they must be in compliance with the new contraceptives mandate, those who hold strong religious convictions on life can easily see through this thinly veiled concession.
Adapting conscience to match government dictates, as HHS would have Americans to do, is never appropriate, nor is “more time” ever reasonable. By compelling individuals to violate their deeply held religious convictions, the government only thwarts God-given and constitutionally-protected religious freedom in exchange for religious compulsion.
Fortunately, some in Washington recognize this danger. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012 is a much-needed response to right the administration’s contraceptives wrong before the sands of its timetable on the American people run out.
If you agree, please urge your senators to cosponsor the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012.
Further Learning
Learn more about: