News Release
For Immediate Release: July 16, 2014
Contact: Diane Gramley 1.814.271.9078 or 1.814-437.5355
“Pro-Life” Bob Casey Votes to Force Christian Businesses to Pay for Contraception
(Harrisburg) — The cloture vote on S2578 – the bill bearing the misleading name of Protect Women’s Health From Corporate Interference Act of 2014 — was defeated in the Senate by a vote of 56-43. It was introduced by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) in response to the US Supreme Court ruling in the Hobby Lobby case which found that the contraception mandate of Obamacare violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of PA), a statewide religious freedom organization, is concerned that Senator Robert Casey, Jr. not only signed on as a co-sponsor yesterday, but voted for taking away religious freedom today.
According to Roll Call, ” the measure would prevent employers like Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties from claiming religious exemptions to Obamacare mandates pursuant to other federal laws, like the 1993 religious freedom law. That includes the refusal to cover certain contraceptive services that company owners say violate their faith.”
“Senator Casey still claims he is pro-life, but a quick look at his voting record shows the exact opposite. In this case the owners of the Lancaster-based Conestoga Wood Specialties – the Hahns – were willing to pay for all contraception except four – including Plan B which prevents a fertilized embryo from implanting in the womb, ending in the death of the newly conceived baby. Apparently Senator Casey is okay with taking away the religious freedom of the Hahns and force them to pay for drugs which lead to death for the most vulnerable Pennsylvanians,” noted Diane Gramley, president of the AFA of PA.
SCOTUS based its decision on the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which passed unanimously in the US House and by a vote of 97-3 in the US Senate – with Patty Murray being one of the “yes” votes. RFRA has not changed in 20 years, but Murray and too many liberals have changed their view on religious freedom and want to take this First Amendment right away from those with deeply held Christian beliefs.
“The whole contraception mandate is simply another effort by the federal government to control the day -to-day operations of every privately owned businesses and to take away religious liberty. A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found 85 percent of large American employers already offered contraception coverage before the health care law required it. Yet, the liberals are not content with that – they demand all must pay for abortion causing drugs. Unfortunately, including our “pro-life” Senator Casey,” Gramley concluded.
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