Prominent voices on contraception mandate: This battle is far, far from over

The Senate might just have voted to table the Blunt amendment that would have provided conscience exemptions to the administration’s contraception mandate, but a group of at least 17 conservative leaders say they will not rest until religious liberty is again assured.

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“By a 75 percent margin, the American people are opposed to Obama’s dictatorship by mandate,” ForAmerica Chairman Brent Bozell said in a news release. “The Senate had the opportunity to join with the American people in rejecting this tyranny. It shows how useless this body has become that it folded like a cheap suit. Those who voted against the Blunt amendment now own this mandate, too.”

Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote.org, said the mandate cannot and will not be allowed to stand.

“Make no mistake, this mandate is unconstitutional and will be overturned by the courts or by the American people by electing a majority of Senators who will stand up for religious liberty,” Burch said. “We call upon all voters of faith, and all citizens who believe in freedom to hold accountable every Senator who voted against the First Amendment today.”

Earlier, before the Senate rejected the amendment, Bozell and Burch were joined by 15 other concerned religious liberty activists in expressing their alarm at the mandate. The group included Grace Marie Turner, founder of the Galen Institute; Carrie Severino, chief counsel at the Judicial Crisis Network; Jennifer Marshall, domestic policy director at The Heritage Foundation; Pia de Solenni, an ethicist and moral theologian; Maggie Karner, director of Life and Health Ministries for The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod; Kristan Hawkins, executive director of Students for Life for America; Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention; J. Kenneth Blackwell, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Commission; Matthew Staver, dean of law at Liberty University School of Law; Asma Uddin, attorney for The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty; Lori Windham, senior counsel for The Becket Fund; and Tom McClusky, senior vice president for Family Research Council Action.

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“As a women representing 500,000 women nationwide, I can tell you that we are tired of President Obama trampling our religious liberties under the guise of ‘protecting women’s health,'” Nance said. “At the core of almost every woman is a conscience and moral integrity that must be protected. The government has no right to violate those by forcing individuals and organizations to infringe upon their religious and/or moral beliefs by mandating the purchase of a product or service they find objectionable.”

In other words, it’s not just the Catholic bishops who have pledged to fight this battle to the end.

As always, though, it’s important to remember that this mandate is just the first close-up of Obamacare. The entire law must be repealed.

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