Lawmakers in both houses of Congress are attempting to nullify President Obama’s latest so-called ‘healthcare’ mandate requiring all heath insurance companies to provide abortion pills “free of charge.”

On February 10, after Catholic bishops and other Christian and Jewish leaders publicly had refused to comply with a January 2012 mandate requiring them to pay for abortion drugs and other unethical procedures, President Obama announced an “accommodation.” However, while the president and White House say the latest  mandate exempts places of worship, they also say insurance companies must provide “free” “contraceptive coverage” and this really means no one is exempted from the unconstitutional mandate.

Members of our Faith and Action team were part of a special briefing with U.S. senators to discuss strategies for protecting religious leaders and institutions against the severe punishments threatened by the Obama administration should churches refuse to cooperate with him.

We made the point that this battle isn’t about birth-control pills or devices or “preventative care” – as the Obama administration sometimes coins it. After all, birth-control pills and interuterine devices don’t prevent pregnancy, they abort newly-conceived human persons.

This conflict is about the constitutionally guaranteed freedom to exercise our natural rights without government interference.

Recently, we began a new project at Faith and Action, the William Bentley Ball Memorial Archive. The archive contains all the files, case briefs and legal resources of the late attorney William Bentley Ball – a pioneer in defending religious liberty at the U.S. Supreme Court. The archive is being used to assist attorneys, lawmakers and judges in religious liberty cases.

Little did we realize when we began this project how crucial it would soon be to the preservation of our freedoms.

While at the meeting in the U.S. Senate offices discussing ways to resist the Obama administration’s unprecedented executive order, we were stunned to hear the members of the Senate refer to Wisconsin v. Yoder, the historic case argued at the U.S. Supreme Court by William Bentley Ball. We were stunned to hear that it’s the centerpiece of their efforts to end this presidential bullying of churches and religious leaders. In the trial, Mr. Ball defended the religious rights of three Amish families and won the case.

Incidentally, President Obama’s recent announcement backtracking on this issue is not the end of the story. We strongly believe this is just political maneuvering to buy time – and members of Congress agree.

As a result of the Senate meeting, members of the Faith and Action team spoke with senior lawyers from one of America’s premier pubic interest constitutional law firms to discuss strategies to fight the president’s executive order.

So our William Bentley Ball archive has already become an invaluable resource in defending the free exercise of religion in America.

Bills and the Obama ‘Accommodation’

On January 30, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida introduced the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012 (S. 2043). So far, the bill is cosponsored by 29 of his colleagues. In brief, it would amend the Public Health Service Act to provide religious conscience protections for individuals and organizations.

In reaction to President Obama’s announcement of an “accommodation,” Sen. Rubio said, “It’s good that the president reaffirmed that the federal government cannot force faith-based institutions to provide services that they teach are wrong. Unfortunately, as more of these rules are written, our constitutional rights will continue to be threatened by the administration’s policy goals. This issue exemplifies the problem with putting the federal government in charge of health care and shows why we must fully repeal Obamacare.”

On February 15, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska held a media conference featuring House and Senate colleagues of both parties and called for swift action on his bill, the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act (H.R. 11790), which he introduced last March to protect the religious liberties and conscience rights of every American. The bill has 190 cosponsors in the House and Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri is moving the legislation (S. 1467) forward in the other chamber with 37 cosponsors.

(Sen. Blunt also added the full text of Fortenberry’s bill to the Transportation Authorization Bill (S. 1813). On February 16, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois announced the Senate will vote on Blunt’s Senate Amendment 1520 after recess, most likely February 27 or 28.)

“The final rule that was filed last Friday did not make any changes to the HHS mandate,” said Rep. Dan Lipinski of Illinois. “We still need to pass the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act in order to protect the conscience rights of all Americans.”

Congressman Bob Latta of Ohio essentially condemned the president’s “accommodation.” He said, “It is an accounting gimmick that ignores the conscience rights of Americans. The Obama administration has gone against 30 years of federal conscience protections with this rule. I am extremely disappointed that this regulation departs from that tradition and the religious liberty that is enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution.”

Faith and Action’s president, Rev. Rob Schenck, said, “It’s ludicrous for President Obama to offer a so-called compromise on this egregious violation of religious freedom. The First Amendment expressly forbids him from prohibiting the free exercise of religion. The U.S. founders were crystal clear on that. What’s there to compromise? Certainly not a constitutionally-guaranteed liberty. This action is reason for all religious people – all people of goodwill – to declare a state of emergency. We must speak now or be forever forced to hold our peace.”

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