Please read my talk on the Senate Floor to support memorial SJM 104 which asks Congress and the President to reject the HHS mandate that violates the first amendment that guarantees our right of freedom of religion and conscience.

Where, when, what happened!!
On January 20th, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, reaffirmed a rule from last August that virtually all private health care plans must cover sterilization, abortifacients, and contraception. Last August, the HHS also issued a list of "preventive services for women to be mandated in private health care plans. This includes sterilization, all FDA approved birth control, including the IUD, 'morning after pills', depo provera, and abortion-inducing drugs (such as Ella and RU 486), and education and counseling to promote these among all women of reproductive capacity. It is a matter of science that some forms of birth control can be abortion-inducing, which causes the death of an unborn child. The rule is set to take effect on August 1, 2012. Non-profit religious or other employers that do not now provide the coverage, and are not exempt under the narrow definition of religious employer, will be given one year-until August 1, 2013-to comply. The federal government is telling private insurers what they must cover and private individuals what they must pay for. The so called compromise that President of the US has tried to use lately as a political ploy is utterly deceptive. Under the revised rule, insurance companies would be forced to offer the "preventive services" without a copay (free of charge) to the same religious or private organizations. The new compromise accomplishes the same goal-forcing employers to underwrite policies covering the offensive services-by a different means, a simple accounting gimmick. Not requiring a co-pay just means the insurance companies will push these costs back to the organizations by higher premiums.
What is the real issue here?
This is the greatest attack on our rights since Roe V Wade in 1973 which condoned abortion of our own unborn children, denying the right to life and love by their parents and siblings. It is a 1. An attack on right to religious freedom 2. Attack on right to freedom of conscience 3. Attack on right to access to health care. This HHS rule is violating our rights of conscience, which is held so dear to the American people as testified by our Founding Fathers. James Madison has said, "Conscience is the most sacred of all property" and Thomas Jefferson has said that, "No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the enterprises of the civil authority." This is a conscience issue, not a contraception issue,
Most Faiths are taking a stand!!!
Archbishop Timothy Dolan, President of of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, stated, "In effect, the president is saying that we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences." But this is not just a conscience and faith issue for the Catholic Church-it is for all Americans. Orthodox, Evangelical, Jew, and other religious leaders are taking a stand as religious institutions, since they recognize this as an assault on the broader principle of religious freedom. For example: Protestant Christian, Orthodox Christian, and Orthodox Jews, none of whom oppose contraception, have issued statements against the HHS decision. The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, the National Association of Evangelicals, the union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of Americans have made strong statements against the ruling. They also will be faced with a choice between 1. not providing insurance coverage to their employees and then thereby being fined by the government, or 2. Pay for the provisions of services that they believe are morally evil. These religious leaders have pointed out that, "It is not only Catholics who object to the narrow exemption that protects only seminaries and a few churches..." "Freedom of conscience is a sacred gift from God, not a grant from the state", said Galen Carey, National Association of Evangelicals V-P for Government Relations. Also, they have said, "No government has the right to compel its citizens to violate their conscience. The HHS rules trample on our most cherished freedoms and set a dangerous precedent." Northwest Nazarene College in Nampa signed a letter of protest with heads of many other faith-based organizations.
What are the Economic and Social Consequences?
Examples: Catholic Charities, America's largest private network of social service organizations, having 70,000 employees , would mean having $140 million a year in fines alone if they did not comply with the ruling. What about the other Christian Charities?
Pregnancy crisis centers and Adoption services will be forced to pay for insurance coverage for employees for use of abortifacients. Hundreds of hospitals will be forced to close.
One in six patients, not just Catholic, receives care in 637 Catholic hospitals throughout the States. The Catholic Church educates 2.6 million students everyday at a cost of $10 billion, and a savings to the American taxpayer of $18 billion. The ultimate consequence will be the closing of schools, hospitals, pregnancy crisis centers, and ultimately our churches. Attorney General's opinion-they have expressed their strong opposition to the HHS mandate and will vigorously oppose it in court. This document dated Feb 10, 2012, joins with attorney generals from Florida, Louisiana, Maine, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Colorado "Never before in our US history has the Federal Government forced citizens to directly purchase what violates our beliefs." This is a conscience right issue, not a contraception issue.
This is an American issue, not a Catholic issue -----as freedom of conscience belongs not to just religious people but to every American. We are being forced to pay for abortions. There is no choice in this plan-it against the 1st Amendment to our Constitution. I should be able to purchase insurance without contraception if I want; you should be able to purchase insurance with contraception if you want. According to a lawsuit filed against the present administration, it's a mandate that would require an "ongoing, comprehensive government surveillance" of private institutions' religious beliefs. This is a conscience right issue, not a contraception issue.
This is an American issue.
http://chumly.com/n/113ec3f