[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 1041-1042]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HHS CONTRACEPTION MANDATE

  Mr. COATS. Madam President, I rise today to call upon the President 
of the United States to rescind one of the most radical and 
unconstitutional mandates ever issued, a mandate that requires faith-
based organizations, hospitals, and educational institutions to provide 
and pay for health insurance coverage that violates the fundamental 
tenets of their faith.
  Our Founding Fathers believed so deeply in the importance of 
religious freedom that they made it the very first American principle 
in the Bill of Rights. The first amendment to the Constitution reads, 
in part:

       Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
     religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

  On January 20, the Obama administration announced one of the greatest 
deviations from this constitutional guarantee of religious freedom in 
our Nation's history. This Federal rule is a blatant assault on the 
conscience rights of any organization or any individual who opposes 
abortion or the use of contraceptives.
  While I am a pro-life Senator and believe that life begins at 
conception, I am not someone that supports banning contraception. But I 
do support the right of those who hold the belief that those tenets 
should be respected, and that Federal mandates, Federal regulations, 
and Federal laws should not be used to overturn that belief.
  I do not believe this ruling was an oversight. The Obama 
administration doubled down on its ruling by ignoring the numerous 
efforts by faith-based organizations to be granted an exemption. This 
issue is not a debate over whether the use of contraceptives is right 
or wrong. This is not a debate over whether the health care law is the 
right policy or the wrong policy. I do believe personally that the 
ObamaCare policy is the wrong policy for this Nation. But this is a 
debate over whether the Congress is going to sit idly by and watch the 
administration walk all over freedom of religion--and not just the 
Congress but the institutions of America and the people of America--a 
core American principle or will we stand and protect what our Founding 
Fathers put their lives on the line for and what millions of Americans 
practice each day.
  Catholic institutions, whether they be social services or 
universities such as the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, will 
have one of two choices: they can either pay for health insurance that 
covers things such as sterilization or birth control, despite their 
deeply held religious objections, or they can refuse to offer any sort 
of health insurance to their employees, which will result in these 
organizations facing significant fines and penalties while their 
employees are forced to seek health insurance elsewhere.
  In other words, the Obama administration is saying: Compromise your 
religious beliefs to comply with our massive Federal health care law or 
you and your employees will face a penalty.
  While this decision will greatly impact many in the Catholic faith, 
it will also extend beyond a singular religious denomination. A wide 
variety of religious institutions and organizations across the country 
will resist providing insurance coverage for birth control. Cardinal-
designate Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference on Catholic 
Bishops, said:

       Never before has the Federal Government forced individuals 
     and organizations to go out into the marketplace and buy a 
     product that violates their conscience. This shouldn't happen 
     in a land where free exercise of religion ranks first in the 
     Bill of Rights.

  Although a blatant violation of the first amendment, this ruling is a 
culmination of attacks on religious and faith-based organizations by 
this administration. I fear, as Washington Post columnist Michael 
Gerson noted in his article today, that such a trend will threaten the 
good work being done by faith-based groups--of any faith--whether it be 
Catholic, Protestant, Jewish or Muslim. Any group or nonprofit hospital 
or charity that is working to provide services to people in need now 
has to compromise their basic religious tenets in order to continue to 
provide that insurance coverage for their employees or pay a fine by 
not doing so.
  There have been some bills introduced in the Senate to rescind this. 
I would hope that those in the administration who are listening to the 
people and listening to the protests that are being made against this 
almost unconscionable mandate will not stand by idly and wait to see 
whether Congress will act because we will act. We will act as soon as 
we can. I would hope that they would reconsider this sweeping 
unconstitutional ruling which is in direct violation of the first 
amendment.
  George Washington once said:

       Every man, conducting himself as a good citizen and being 
     accountable to God alone for his religious opinions, ought to 
     be protected in worshiping the Deity according to the 
     dictates of his own conscience.

  We must take a stand to protect this inalienable right, the right of 
conscience established by our Founding Fathers and sustained for over 
200 years.
  Mr. President, you can undo this wrong by rescinding this mandate 
that has been imposed in violation of the most basic of human rights 
and principles of our Constitution. I am calling on you to do so.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Madam President, I ask that I be recognized to speak.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is recognized.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Madam President, I come to the floor today to add my 
voice in opposition to President Obama's unwillingness to respect the 
conscience rights of religious institutions.
  On January 20, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a 
mandate requiring almost all private health insurance policies, 
including those issued by religious institutions, to cover free 
sterilizations and contraceptives at no cost to policyholders.
  What this means, in simple terms, is that churches are exempt from 
the mandate, but institutions such as church-run universities, 
hospitals, and nonprofits must comply with the government regulation. 
Therefore, in order to continue to operate, these church-run 
institutions must violate the very beliefs that inspire them to care 
for the least among us.
  I would not be surprised to see many of these faith-based 
institutions disappear should this mandate move forward. Despite the 
President's contention this outcome is not what he intends, his mandate 
unfairly forces people to choose between their health and their moral 
or religious values.
  Many parents, Christians and others, object to sterilization, agents 
that abort, and contraceptives. Americans should not have to pay for 
services or health care plans that conflict with their deeply held 
religious beliefs. This is purely a political decision on the part of 
the administration, and it

[[Page 1042]]

shows that President Obama will do whatever necessary to appease his 
base and protect his own job, even if it means the blatant infringement 
on first amendment rights.
  With this mandate, President Obama is not only trampling religious 
liberties, he is also confirming what many feared when this health care 
bill became law. Americans saw this massive expansion of government as 
a threat to individual rights. This mandate, one of the first based on 
the President's health care bill, does little to comfort those 
concerns. In fact, it comes across as confirmation the President 
intends to force on us his belief that he knows what is best for 
Americans when it comes to our health care choices.
  In an effort to fight the administration's overreach, I have joined 
with several of my colleagues in supporting legislation to protect 
freedom of conscience and prohibit the government from imposing 
mandates on our religious employers. Religious institutions play a 
critical role in our communities. If Federal policies make it difficult 
for those institutions to continue important social services without 
going against their principles, it will hurt the least fortunate among 
us by threatening the much-needed assistance and outreach provided by 
religious groups across the Nation.
  The seemingly endless number of regulations this administration has 
handed down to the American people needs to end. Let us force the 
President to govern in a manner that respects the values of the 
American people, not just his base. Protecting religious organizations 
from this overreaching mandate is certainly an excellent place to 
start.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.

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