[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 834-835]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           CONSCIENCE RIGHTS

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, institutions across the country are facing an 
impossible choice: Do they continue in their mission to provide for 
their employees, or do they violate their conscience?
  When the Affordable Care Act passed, there was no thought in the 
minds of many Catholics that the law would eventually force them into 
such a terrible choice. In fact, my former colleague from Pennsylvania, 
Kathy Dahlkemper, recently came out and said, I would have never voted 
for the final version of the bill if I expected the Obama 
administration to force Catholic hospitals and Catholic colleges and 
universities to pay for contraception.
  I might add, this rule that will go into effect on August 12 includes 
not only contraceptives, but abortifacients, drugs like Ella and Plan 
B, as well as sterilization services.
  Catholic and other religious organizations have cared for the sick 
and educated Americans of all religions since the founding of our 
Republic, and they've done this because their conscience compels them 
to show their love to all mankind. Never before has the Federal 
Government compelled them to violate their conscience in such a 
terrible way. There are fundamental questions about life and morality 
that the government has no business forcing on organizations and 
individuals. To force them to violate their conscience is wrong.

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