Last week, I traveled with my husband to Washington D.C. to attend the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), which he was covering as a blogger. It surprised me a bit that the HHS mandate was the topic of so much conversation; I was impressed at how people of all faiths—Catholics and other Christians of all denominations, our Jewish friends, and many others—were united in agreement. I was also encouraged that 55% of those who paid to attend this conference were young—between eighteen and twenty-five, and actively engaged.

This mandate thumbs its nose at our religious liberty, constitutionally guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. This isn't just a Catholic, social conservative, or a contraception issue—it is a first amendment, religious-liberty issue.

Employers, in order to provide health care to their employees, should not be forced by the government to pay for things that violate their values; when employers are forced to do so, they are not "free" any more than the contraceptive, sterilization and abortifacient services the government is mandating are "free" simply because someone else pays for them.

At the conference, Governor Huckabee gave a great speech, saying, "I remember vividly when John F. Kennedy said that we are all Berliners. Well, in many ways thanks to President Obama, we are all Catholics now. We are all standing together." He was cheered and applauded by the crowd. He went on to joke, "You know, growing up a Baptist in the south I never thought I would see the day when I would stand in front of several thousand people saying that we're all Catholic!"

Yes, we were attending a conservative conference, but several prominent members in the Democratic Party were critical as well. Obviously not all—Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the HHS claims to be Catholic. However, Vice-President Joe Biden, Chief of Staff Bill Daley, and Tim Kaine, chair of the DNC, all warned the president against this. In our hotel room, Ed had the TV on, and I heard to my great surprise that even Chris Matthews—certainly not a conservative—was being critical of this mandate, and I give him credit for doing so. He said, "It gets to that interesting point to me—which is frightening—when the state starts telling the church what to do...."

In this column I write about faith, and usually leave political issues to my husband and others who would do a better job at it, but this is something I need to speak out about. The Bishops and other leaders have been doing a great job standing up and giving information about all this. I have been dismayed, however, that I have found that in spite of that, some of my friends I have spoken to really don't understand what is at stake here. I do my best to inform them that this is about our freedom of religion rights guaranteed in the first amendment that we need to be aware of.

The Bishops have called for us to take action by (politely) letting the White House know how we feel. They have also asked for prayer. With Lent fast approaching, it is a time when we think about what we are going to do to prepare for the Lord's sacrifice for us, and to pray and fast in some way to transform our hearts, and grow closer to God. We need to pray for our nation and all elected officials—those we agree with and those we don't. I admit I have been angry, but when I was thinking about this, I felt the Lord telling me to pray. So, I am making more of a point to pray for the president and all our leaders, because all of us are in need of prayer.

The story of people of faith struggling with civil authorities isn't anything new. With Lent upon us next week, it might be a good reminder that prayer, fasting and other Lenten practices are to remind us that the sacrifice that was made on Calvary is what brings us to the victory of the Resurrection at Easter.