Dear Mrs. McKinney,
Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding religious liberty and the right of conscience. Religious freedom is a core American principle, one that our Founding Fathers enshrined in the Constitution, a principle we must preserve and protect.
Despite our heritage deeply rooted in religious liberty, on January 20, the Obama Administration issued a mandate under Obamacare that required church-affiliated organizations to offer their employees private insurance coverage with no out-of-pocket charges for contraceptives and related products. This federal mandate ignored efforts by many faith-based organizations to be granted an exemption on religious grounds.
On January 30, I introduced the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012 (S. 2043) to establish a tangible religious exemption to this mandate to ensure that our federal government cannot force religious organizations to abandon the fundamental tenets of their faith. In addition to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, I have also co-sponsored both the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act (S. 1467) and the Religious Freedom Protection Act (S. 2092) to protect the fundamental right of religious organizations to be exempt from federal mandates that violate their core beliefs. As these important pieces of legislation that protect religious liberty move forward in the Senate, I will certainly keep your thoughts in mind.
On February 10, after much criticism and bipartisan
pressure, President Obama announced that the mandate originating from Obamacare will
no longer place the cost burden to cover contraceptives on religious organizations, but instead the cost
will now fall on the insurance companies to cover contraceptives for all employees. There are legitimate
concerns about this new policy as well, which is why we must pass legislation to protect religious liberties.
Again, thank you for contacting me about religious liberty and the right of conscience, and I look forward to any thoughts or input you wish to share in the future.