Dan Coats: “I rise today to call upon the President of the United States to rescind one of the most radical and unconstitutional…”

“I rise today to call upon the President of the United States to rescind one of the most radical and unconstitutional mandates ever issued, a mandate that requires faith- based organizations, hospitals, and educational institutions to provide and pay for health insurance coverage that violates the fundamental tenets of their faith. Our Founding Fathers believed so deeply in the importance of religious freedom that they made it the very first American principle in the Bill of Rights. The first amendment to the Constitution reads, in part: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. On January 20, the Obama administration announced one of the greatest deviations from this constitutional guarantee of religious freedom in our Nation's history. This Federal rule is a blatant assault on the conscience rights of any organization or any individual who opposes abortion or the use of contraceptives. While I am a pro-life Senator and believe that life begins at conception, I am not someone that supports banning contraception. But I do support the right of those who hold the belief that those tenets should be respected, and that Federal mandates, Federal regulations, and Federal laws should not be used to overturn that belief. I do not believe this ruling was an oversight.…”