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发帖数: 901 | 1 From the Republican presidential candidates to top GOP lawmakers in
Washington, party leaders are engaging in a full-court press against the
Obama Administration's decision to force employers affiliated with religious
groups to offer health care insurance plans to workers that cover birth
control free of charge, even if the action contradicts the employer's
religious beliefs.
In a rare move for someone in his office, House Speaker John Boehner,
Republican of Ohio, took to the floor of the chamber on Wednesday to discuss
a legislative plan to overturn the decision. Calling the rule "an
unambiguous attack" on faith-based groups, Boehner said the House would
begin work on a bill immediately.
"If the president does not reverse the department's attack on religious
freedom, then the Congress, acting on behalf of the American people, and the
Constitution that we're sworn to uphold and defend, must," Boehner, a
Catholic, said. "The House will approach this matter fairly and deliberately
through regular order and appropriate legislative channels."
Boehner said that the chamber's Energy and Commerce committee will take the
lead in drafting the legislation to overturn the decision.
Last month, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced
that certain faith-based groups would have one year to comply with the
requirement, enacted when Congress passed a federal health care overhaul in
2010. "Nonprofit employers who, based on religious beliefs, do not currently
provide contraceptive coverage in their insurance plan, will be provided an
additional year, until August 1, 2013, to comply with the new law,"
Sebelius said in the statement. |
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