Monday, February 6, 2012

Santorum urges civil disobedience against HHS mandate By Michelle Bauman


Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum speaks at a town hall meeting January 31, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum encouraged Catholic groups across the U.S. to disobey a federal mandate requiring them to buy health insurance plans that violate Church teaching.

Santorum was asked on a Feb. 1 talk show what advice he would give to Catholic hospitals, schools, adoption agencies and other charities struggling with the mandate.

�Civil disobedience,� he responded. �This will not stand.�

The GOP contender spoke as a guest on political commentator Hugh Hewitt�s radio show and said that his strong concerns about �the government taking over health care� is a primary reason he decided to run for president.

On Jan. 20, the Obama administration announced a new mandate that will require virtually all employers to purchased health insurance plans that cover sterilization and contraception � including drugs that cause early abortions � at no cost to employees. 

Religious groups across the country have denounced the mandate and its narrow religious exemption, which applies only to organizations that have the purpose of instilling religious values and that employ and serve primarily members of their own faiths. 

Santorum said that the mandate, which was issued under the authority of the 2010 health care overhaul, should come as no surprise.

�If you�re going to give people secular power, then they�re going to use it in a secular fashion,� he said, adding that those who had embraced the health care legislation had permitted the problem to develop.

Turning to the government to provide �a right to health care� gives the government power to �tell you how to exercise that right,� he explained.

He reiterated that �government isn�t the answer to the social ills,� but that families, communities, charities and individuals of faith should instead fill this role.

Santorum said he believes the mandate will eventually come before the Supreme Court, where he does not think the administration�s argument will prevail.

He pointed to the Jan. 11 Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC ruling, in which the Supreme Court justices unanimously upheld the �ministerial exception� that allows religious organizations to make employment decisions without interference from the government. 

Legal experts have said that the decision may have far-reaching consequences because it rejects the narrow definition of religion that has been utilized by the current administration.

Santorum described the ruling as �a 9-0 decision that said the Obama administration can�t roll over people of faith when it comes to hiring.�

He added that despite that ruling, the �radical, secular government� continues to downplay the importance of the First Amendment.

In continuing the battle for religious freedom, Santorum urged Catholic organizations to �fight� the mandate through both court cases and civil disobedience, adding that they should �go to war with the federal government over this one.�

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