The Administration is ignoring the law in implementing Obamacare, while violating the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act by enforcing Obamacare’s contraception mandate.
Senator Ted Cruz
Senate.gov
1/28/2014
WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, joined by Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Mike Lee, R-Utah, and David Vitter, R-La., filed an amicus brief today in support of the challenge by Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties against Obamacare’s contraception mandate.
“The First Amendment guarantees every American the right to free exercise of religion,” said Sen. Cruz. “Yet, the Obama Administration has chosen repeatedly to break the law by giving breaks to big business and Congress, while refusing to grant those same waivers to people with sincerely held religious beliefs.”
In the brief, the senators document the numerous ways in which the Obama Administration has unilaterally ignored the text of the law, while at the same time failing to protect Americans’ religious liberties.
“The various delays and exceptions that the Administration has announced all have one effect: exempting even more health care plans from the requirements of the ACA,” the brief says. “In each instance, the beneficiaries of these exemptions are the politically powerful and well-connected. The Administration, however, refuses to grant the same leniency to those for whom the contraception mandate violates their sincere religious beliefs.”
Specifically, the senators point to the Administration’s unilateral decision to delay the health insurance requirements, the cap on out-of-pocket costs, the expansion of the employer mandate penalty, and the granting of health subsidies to Members of Congress and Congressional staff as examples of how the Administration has ignored the text of the law.
“We will not stand by as President Obama continues to skirt the law, selectively enforcing Obamacare and hand-picking winners and losers to satisfy his political agenda,” said Sen. Cornyn. “I join in filing this brief to protect the rights of all Texans and all Americans to practice their religious beliefs without obstruction from the federal government.”
“The ability to practice the faith we choose is one of our great Constitutional rights. The Obama administration’s contraceptive mandate stomps on that right,” added Sen. Vitter.
The full text of the brief is at Cruz.Senate.gov
Update: Dem senators intervene in Hobby Lobby case, urge justices to deny ObamaCare exemption
Democratic senators intervened Tuesday in the Supreme Court fight over whether ObamaCare can force the company Hobby Lobby to provide contraceptive coverage to workers, arguing that “secular” businesses should not be exempt from the mandate.
The 19 senators planned to file a brief before the court, which is still weeks away from considering the closely watched case. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who planned to make her case on the Senate floor, adamantly defended the Obama administration’s side.
“What’s at stake in this case before the Supreme Court is whether a CEO’s personal beliefs can trump a woman’s right to access free or low-cost contraception under the Affordable Care Act,” she said in prepared remarks…
Update 2: 19 Democratic Senators file amicus brief in Hobby Lobby case
…The Democrat’s argument that companies would try to “impose their religious beliefs” on their employees is ironic, indeed. Isn’t that what the government is trying to do by stuffing the contraception mandate down the throats of Christians?
People have a choice of whether they want to work for Hobby Lobby or not. If they want coverage for contraceptives, they can go work at a company that features that benefit. The mandate gives Christians no choice whatsoever, and reaches into the most personal area of religious beliefs…
