Influential conservative Christian leaders, including Tony Perkins and Richard Land, were among those who participated in a press conference Monday at the National Religious Broadcasters convention to call for the reversal of the highly contentious contraception mandate proposed by the Obama administration.
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The speakers also signed a letter, containing the signatures of some 2,500 religious leaders, that express their concerns over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which mandates that all health insurance plans - including those of most religious institutions that are not churches - cover all FDA-approved contraceptive methods, including the "morning after pill," which is viewed by pro-life Catholics and non-Catholics alike as an abortifacient.
"This is not a Catholic issue," said Tony Perkins, Family Research Council president, but one that concerns all denominations. "We will not tolerate any denomination having their religious freedom infringed upon by the government of the United States."
It stands as clear violation of the constitutional right to religious freedom, Perkins said.
"If there was ever a separation of church and state violation, this is it," the FRC president declared.
The contraception mandate "essentially ignores the conscience rights of many Catholic and Protestant Americans," the letter charges. "Our country was founded on certain freedoms, the first of which is the freedom of religion. The ability of a religious person to follow their conscience without fearing government intervention has long been a protected right for Americans."
SOURCE: Christian Post
Luiza Oleszczuk
