Americans have been rallying in opposition to the Obama Administration's contraceptive decision. The furor was great that the President held a press conference this past Friday in which he announced a "compromise." It was nothing of the sort - the President merely repackaged his original policy and tried to dupe the American people into believing otherwise.
Here is a sample of the reaction of knowledgeable people in Washington to the President's false-compromise.
Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH):
“This ObamaCare rule still tramples on Americans’ First Amendment right to freedom of religion. It’s a fig leaf, not a compromise. Whether they are affiliated with a church or not, employers will still be forced to pay an insurance company for coverage that includes abortion-inducing drugs. This is not just a problem for church-affiliated hospitals and charities. Under these rules, a small business owner with religious objections to abortion-inducing drugs and contraception must either violate his religious beliefs or violate the law. The liberal Obama administration thinks its political goals trump the religious faith of American citizens. That isn’t right, fair, or constitutional.”
Hannah Smith, Senior Legal Counsel for The Becket Fund:
“This is a false ‘compromise’ designed to protect the President’s re-election chances, not to protect the right of conscience. Hundreds, if not thousands, of religious institutions are still left out in the cold and will be forced to violate their religious convictions.”
Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY):
“While the White House is trying to walk away from its original mandate, one thing this debate has made perfectly clear is that the administration believes the Constitution takes a back seat to its ideological goals. They’re not sorry they violated the First Amendment.... This whole episode demonstrates why politicians should not be the ones to make determinations about religious beliefs and is just another reason why the deeply flawed health law needs to be repealed. Whether it is forcing people to buy government-chosen health insurance, or injecting Washington’s oversight into nearly every aspect of people’s lives, the Obama administration clearly believes that the Constitution is an inconvenience, not a guiding principle, in their implementation of the health law."
UPDATE:
Michael Cannon (of CATO) recaps the initial WaPo story on the President's "compromise" which details exactly how hollow the President's revised policy is. Read his post
here.
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