Obama's Putting All His Regs in One Basket...

Tony Perkins, FRC Washington Update: Time doesn't heal all wounds--at least where religious liberty is concerned. While the calendar changes, the opposition to the President's abortion mandate does not. So far, no amount of HHS tweaks or "compromises" can make up for the fact that this administration's policy--ordering organizations to pay for pills that violate their beliefs--may be the greatest attack on America's First Freedom ever.

In the brief time since HHS posted the rules, the mandate has generated more public comments--147,000--than any government regulation in history! Compared to the 4,600 comments on pre-existing conditions and insurance, the mandate is drawing 30 times the response! It just goes to show, says the Sunlight Foundation, "how motivated the foes and champions of the contraceptive provision are."

And speaking of foes, the mandate found a few powerful ones in a joint letter signed by 13 state attorneys general. Led by Alabama's Luther Strange, the group (which includes Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia) called on HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to adopt "broader religious exemptions" to the mandate that would protect anyone who objects to the order on moral grounds. "Whatever we personally may think about contraception and abortion-inducing drugs," Strange wrote, "we can all agree that the government should not be in the business of forcing people to violate their religious convictions."

Among other things, the group complains about the narrowness of the exemptions (only a handful of non-church organizations are even eligible). "They allow a limited few religious nonprofits, such as houses of worship, to avoid the 'HHS mandate' altogether...The proposed regulations provide no exception to the HHS mandate for for-profit business owners who object on conscience grounds."

Like FRC, these leaders also see through the President's "accommodation" to let a third-party pay for the pills. Unfortunately, the cost-shifting doesn't change anything. There's a slight adjustment in how the accounting is done for the drugs or services that violate people's consciences--but in the end, the President's "compromise" is just a bookkeeping gimmick that hides the coverage in the plan.

"We all know that insurance companies do not provide anything for free," the attorneys general point out. "The employers are still going to be paying for those services through increased premiums or otherwise--even if the insurance company technically covers those products through a separate 'free' policy." What's more, they write, there is absolutely no protection for businesses like Hobby Lobby whose owners have just as many First Amendment rights as the rest of us.

And if the administration won't protect them, Congress must. It's time for the GOP to take the reins on this broad consensus and attach Rep. Diane Black's Health Care Conscience Rights Act to a must-pass piece of legislation. You can help. Add your voice to the tens of thousands of Americans who are fighting the administration's mandate on the HHS website. Click here to post your comments!

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