Thursday, April 12, 2012

Obama Administration Continues the War on Religious Freedom With Excessive Fines

April 11, 2012
By Sara Noble
Independent Sentinel


The Obama administration has dug in its heels on the issue of forcing religious organizations to provide free contraceptions/abotifacients despite the fact that it violates their conscience. If they refuse, they will be fined $100 a day per employee. This will bankrupt the institutions.

This comes from an ideological President who will force his views on our nation over the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of religion.

The Obama administration will allow freedom of religion until the government says otherwise -

Lifesite News: According to a report released by the Congressional Research Service, religious institutions that fail to provide abortifacient drugs to their employees could be fined $100 a day for each of its employees.

According to the memo, “The Secretary [of HHS] may impose a civil monetary penalty on insurance insurers that fail to comply with the [health care reform law’s] requirements,” such as failing to provide contraception, sterilization, or abortion-inducing drugs. “The maximum penalty imposed by the PHSA is $100 per day for each individual with respect to which such a failure occurs.”

Such steep fees could bankrupt religious institutions that do not qualify for an exemption. The Catholic hospitals associated with the Catholic Health Association alone account for 530,673 full-time and 235,221 part-time employees. Collectively, those hospitals could face millions of dollars in fees each day.

The problem, however, is far from unique to the Roman Catholic Church…

To give you an idea of how extreme President Obama’s views are, consider his actions while serving in the Illinois state senate.

When President Obama served in the Illinois state senate, he would not vote for the “born alive bill” because he was concerned that it would infringe on abortion rights. President Obama believes that aborted babies who are born alive do not have the rights of live human beings. Obama believes in preserving abortion rights even at the expense of a born alive baby, whom he refers to as a fetus in an effort to dehumanize the baby.

President Obama, for four years, said that it was the wording of the bill which was problematic since it put abortion at risk. He said he would have voted for it if the wording was the same as the federal bill. However, he wouldn’t vote for a bill identical to the federal bill, something he admitted in 2008.

This is not a man who will work with religious organizations. He believes his government supersedes our constitutional freedoms.
Obama advocating infanticide audio mp3

Here is the Senate transcript to provide the context…


The following is Obama’s voting record on the “born alive” bill as a state senator -

2001

Senate Bill 1095, Born Alive Infant Protection Act
Obama’s “no” vote in the IL Senate Judiciary Committee here, March 28, 2001
Transcript of Obama’s verbal opposition to Born Alive on the IL Senate floor, March 30, 2001, pages 84-90
Obama’s “present” vote on the IL Senate floor, March 30, 2001

2002

Senate Bill 1662
, Born Alive Infant Protection Act
Obama’s “no” vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee, March 6, 2002
Transcript of Obama’s verbal opposition to Born Alive on the IL Senate floor, April 4, 2002, pages 28-35
Obama’s “no” vote on the IL Senate floor, April 4, 2002
Listen to audio from Obama’s 2002 IL Senate floor debate wherein he argued that while babies might be aborted alive, it would be a “burden” to a mother’s “original decision” to assess and treat them.
Meanwhile, the federal Born Alive Infants Protection Act with a “neutrality clause” added passed the U.S. Senate 98-0, the U.S. House overwhelmingly, and was signed into law August 5, 2002. The pro-abortion group NARAL expressed neutrality on the bill.

2003

Senate Bill 1082
, Born Alive Infant Protection Act
Democrats took control of the IL Senate with the 2002 elections. This year Born Alive was sent to the Health & Human Services Committee, chaired by Barack Obama.

As can be seen on the vote docket, Obama first voted to amend SB1082 to add the “neutrality clause” from the federal version of Born Alive to the IL version to make them absolutely identical. (DP#1 means “Do Pass Amendment #1.)

Then Obama voted against the identical version. (DPA means, “Do Pass as Amended.)

Additional corroboration of Obama’s vote: IL State Senate Republican Staff Analysis of SB 1082, March 12-13, 2003, bottom of page 2

For 4 years following his 2003 vote Obama misrepresented it, stating the wording of the IL version of Born Alive was not the same as the federal version, and he would have voted for it if so. As recently as August 16, 2008, Obama made this false assertion.

But when evidence presented was irrefutable, Obama’s campaign on August 18, 2008, admitted the truth to the href="http://www.jillstanek.com/2008/08/breaking-news-obama-campaign-changes-story-admits-he-misrepresented-born-alive-vote/"New York Sun</b>.

The nonpartison group FactCheck.org has since corroborated Obama voted against identical legislation as passed overwhelmingly on the federal level and then misrepresented his vote.

Reference: JillStanek

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