Pearce: President Destroys Conscience Protections

Steve Pearce

President Obama and his cabinet have infringed upon a basic private right their newest sweeping federal mandate. This violation of the longstanding concept of conscience protection breaches the safeguards for personal religious and moral convictions that have been in place since our founding. In a recent op-ed in USA Today, Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, wrote that this latest demand “cuts against the grain of what it means to be American.” I believe the Archbishop hit the nail on the head.

Violation of the Constitution - Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is aligning against the constitutional protection of one’s conscience and religious beliefs. We have the First Amendment to allow everyone to practice whatever faith in whatever manner without the government dictating the God that they worship. As the National Association of Evangelicals stated in response to this edict, “No government has the right to compel its citizens to violate their conscience.”

President Obama is dismissing our Constitution, and forcing religious organizations to violate their conscience by adopting the agenda of the administration’s favored special interests. This is an abhorrent assault on our fundamental liberties, including our right to live the way our faith prescribes. The government is interfering where it has absolutely no place—in our personal, spiritual lives.
Assault on Catholics - Read rest of column here: News New Mexico

Pearce: President Destroys Conscience Protections