Press Releases

Speaking out in favor of religious freedom and protection of the First Amendment, U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga today said he supports Speaker John Boehner’s pledge that the House will stop the egregious government overreach by the Obama administration through a provision in the President’s Health Care Law requiring faith-based employers – including Catholic charities, schools, universities, and hospitals – to provide services they believe are immoral.  Those services include sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs and devices, and contraception. 

 

“Never before has the federal government ordered Americans to violate their conscience. This is a blatant attack on religious freedom as provided for all Americans under the First Amendment, and as a member of Congress sworn to uphold the Constitution, I must join the attempts to stop it. Freedom of religion is a fundamental American principle, and it is violated by these unprecedented regulations. The federal government should not dictate the terms of private health insurance coverage, especially when the new mandates aid in ending life,” Huizenga said.

Huizenga is also a cosponsor of H.R. 1179, the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act, which permits a health plan to decline coverage of specific items and services that are contrary to the religious beliefs of the entity offering the plan or the purchaser. He and several of his colleagues also sent a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius opposing this new mandate.

As the issue lies in the jurisdiction of the Energy and Commerce Committee, its chairman, Michigan Rep. Fred Upton, will lead efforts to find “an effective and appropriate solution” to restore and preserve conscience protections.

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