Mark Souder: “the question in Alaska overruled what was, in my opinion, at least, what my former employer intended to say, that the…”

“the question in Alaska overruled what was, in my opinion, at least, what my former employer intended to say, that the Alaska Supreme Court struck down the conscience clauses applied to the hospital, holding that there was no compelling State interest in the conscience rights of the hospital. Now, if compelling State interests overrules a Federal law that is based on religious freedoms based on our Constitution and laws that are passed, we are in deep trouble. You can see by the intent that my friend, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Weldon), just referred to of the Maryland national abortion rights group, their goal is to force those of us who deeply feel that abortion is murder to be able to not have our own plans for healthcare, to not fund our own hospital systems, to not have any alternative but to fund what we view as one of the fundamental evils in the United States. We can continue to fight abortion in this House and we will continue to fight about it, but those of us who deeply hold that this is a fundamental life should not be forced to fund in any way or participate in plans that require us to lay out dollars that require those of us who share that faith to practice what we believe is murder. Furthermore, I was deeply offended by the line that said we are trying to hide behind the Vatican.…”