AFA of PA ACTION ALERTUS Capitol

July 16, 2014

Issue

Senator Reid Fast Tracks Bill to Rewrite the Religious Freedom Restoration Act

Details

Democrats and homosexual activists are outraged the US Supreme Court sided with religious freedom in the Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Woods Specialties case. The outrage has extended to homosexual groups removing their support for the Employment Non-discrimination Act (ENDA) because it contains a religious exemption. Additionally, Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper asked that her name be removed from a letter she had signed asking President Obama to include a religious exemption in his anticipated executive order dealing with federal contractors and the hiring of homosexuals, bisexuals and transgenders. Read our news release.

Liberals are so outraged that Christian business owners will not be forced to pay for abortion causing drugs in their health care coverage that they have introduced a bill that would repeal certain provisions of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. This is a bipartisan law passed in 1993 with a unanimous vote in the US House and 97 “Yea” votes in the US Senate. Even the ACLU supported it back then and Bill Clinton signed it into law!

On July 9th a bill was introduced by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) with the misleadingly titled of “Protect Women’s Health From Corporate Interference Act of 2014″ — S2578.   On the same day a companion bill – H R 5051 –was introduced in the US House by Representative Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY).

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said shortly after the Hobby Lobby decision, “The one thing we are going to do during this work period, sooner rather than later, is to ensure that women’s lives are not determine by virtue of five white men.  This Hobby Lobby decision is outrageous and we are going to do something about it. People are going to have to walk down here and vote. And if they vote with the five men on the Supreme Court I think they are going to be treated unfavorably come November.”

Harry Reid is wrong once again and apparently blind — one of the 5 Supreme Court Justices upholding religious freedom in the case was Justice Clarence Thomas – an African American. However, he is keeping his promise to fast track this bill and has cancelled all committee hearings on the bill and is calling for a vote on the floor of the Senate THIS WEEK!

Action Step

Contact Senators Bob Casey, Jr. and Pat Toomey and ask them to oppose S2578. FYI — “Pro-life” Casey signed on as a co-sponsor on July 15th!

Senator Casey:  Phone – (202) 224-6324   Email here.

Senator Toomey:  Phone – (202) 224-4254  Email here.

District office info can be found here.

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