Ron Paul Campaign Press Release - Ron Paul Joins Pro-life Advocates in Letter Against Forced HHS Mandate

LAKE JACKSON, Texas — 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul has co-signed a letter directed at Secretary Sebelius of the Health and Human Services Department (HHS). The letter calls into question the mandate requiring all insurance plans to cover sterilization and contraception — including morning after pills.

Pro-life groups and religious entities affected by the mandate have publicly expressed concern that this mandate falls short of meeting religious freedom rights. The mandate requires that plans purchased by the religious employer include the items to which the employer objects. The letter below calls for a repeal of the mandate.

"Dear Secretary Sebelius,

We are writing again to express our opposition to guidelines first issued by the Department of Health and Human Services on August 3, 2011, which remain effective. We maintain that this mandate constitutes an unprecedented effort by the federal government to dictate the terms of private health insurance coverage and infringes upon individual liberty and conscience rights.

Insurers, plan sponsors, and any as yet undefined third parties referenced in the March 16, 2012 Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, should remain free from government coercion when deciding whether or not to offer, purchase, or fund particular types of health insurance coverage. Moreover, we fully support faith-based universities and health care providers in their struggle to retain their inalienable right to avoid complicity in facilitating the violation of their core values.

We maintain that this mandate, which contradicts longstanding federal precedent and a historic bipartisan consensus on the rights of conscience in health care, will force many employers — particularly religious institutions — to choose between their convictions and livelihood, to either violate their deeply held beliefs, drop health care coverage, or cease providing health care services to the general public, disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations. We therefore respectfully request that the Department take these concerns into consideration and rescind the mandate."