{"id":6957,"date":"2014-07-16T21:36:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-16T21:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/senate-rejects-bill-to-end-employer-conscience-protections-89688\/"},"modified":"2014-07-16T21:36:00","modified_gmt":"2014-07-16T21:36:00","slug":"senate-rejects-bill-to-end-employer-conscience-protections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/07\/senate-rejects-bill-to-end-employer-conscience-protections\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate rejects bill to end employer conscience protections"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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Washington D.C., Jul 16, 2014 \/ 03:36 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- The U.S. Senate on Wednesday rejected a bill that opponents warned would have stripped conscience protections for businesses, drawing a response of cautious relief.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWhile the outcome of today\u2019s vote is a relief, it is sobering to think that more than half the members of the U.S. Senate, sworn to uphold the laws and Constitution of the United States, would vote for a bill whose purpose is to reduce the religious freedom of their fellow Americans,\u201d said the U.S. bishops\u2019 director of government, Jayd Henricks.<\/p>\n

\tThe procedural motion to move the bill along fell four votes short of achieving the 60-vote majority needed to continue. Sponsored by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the bill would have forced employers with group health plans to provide all \u201chealth items\u201d mandated by federal law, including all FDA-approved contraceptives under the Affordable Care Act.<\/p>\n

\tThis would counter the Supreme Court\u2019s recent decision that closely-held businesses like Hobby Lobby are protected by federal law from the federal birth control mandate, given their religious objections.<\/p>\n

\tThe controversial mandate requires employers to offer health insurance covering contraception, sterilization and some drugs that can cause early abortions. It has been the subject of religious freedom lawsuits from more than 300 plaintiffs across the country.<\/p>\n

\tArchbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore and Cardinal Sean P. O\u2019Malley of Boston \u2013 heads of the bishops\u2019 religious freedom and pro-life committees, respectively \u2013 had cautioned against the proposed legislation in a letter to all U.S. Senators. They said that it \u201cdoes not befit a nation committed to religious liberty. Indeed, if it were to pass, it would call that commitment into question.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe bishops had argued that the bill would go far beyond the Hobby Lobby decision. If health care mandates were expanded in the future to include the abortion pill RU-486 or late-term abortions, employers would be forced to cover those and would have no recourse to conscience protections, they said.<\/p>\n

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Washington D.C., Jul 16, 2014 \/ 03:36 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- The U.S. Senate on Wednesday rejected a bill that opponents warned would have stripped conscience protections for businesses, drawing a response of cautious relief.<\/p>\n

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