Petition: Stop the HHS from infringing 1st Amendment religious rights

The controversy surrounding the proposed rule from the Health and Human Serviced Department requiring religious institutions to provide free abortion-inducing pills and sterilizations to women is far from over – and neither are the protests.

Meet the latest opponents: Ambassador James Nicholson, author and analyst Mary Matalin, author and former RNC chief Ed Gillespie, former Rep. Bill Paxon, scholar Elizabeth Kirk and Rev. Samuel Rodriguez. The team has formed a coalition, the Conscience Cause, and posted a petition.

“A rule proposed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) mandating free-of-charge sterilization and abortion-inducing pills for all women would trample on those precious rights of conscience and we petition Congress to stop this regulation from going forward.  Despite a much-touted “accommodation,” the HHS rule would require religious hospitals, schools and charities that self-insure to either violate the tenets of their faith or violate the law.  The same is true of small business owners who provide health care coverage and see such drugs and procedures as contrary to their faith.  

We who sign this petition are not unified by any particular religious faith or political party, and have no uniform view on contraception.  We affix our names here because we believe the unprecedented Federal Government mandate on organizations and individuals affiliated with religions or religious institutions (i.e., the Catholic Church) requiring them to pay for drugs and procedures against their religious beliefs is clearly at odds with our U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights’ protections and would set a dangerous precedent in undermining religious freedom for all Americans. 

We respectfully request the U.S. House of Representatives and the United States Senate to move as quickly as possible to stop this freedom trampling HHS regulation.”

The group is actively seeking signatories.