Political Quotes

“I had the opportunity to listen to my colleague from Missouri as he talked about his amendment. I know he is very sincere in his efforts to protect the first amendment, and if that is what this amendment was about, he would have my support. But let me try to go over the amendment and put in context how it is drafted, because this amendment goes well beyond that. I would agree with my colleague that the genesis of this amendment was because of contraceptive services and the request from religious institutions not to have to provide coverage for those services. The amendment we have before us, however, would allow an employer--any employer--or any insurance company to deny essential medical services coverage based upon a religious or moral objection. So the concern with this amendment is that it would allow any employer in this country to deny coverage of essential medical services in the plan that employer provides. And that could cover women's health care issues; it could cover contraceptive issues, mammography screenings, prenatal screenings, cervical cancer screenings. An employer could very well say, I am against the moral issue concerning providing that coverage. I don't believe the historical interpretations my colleague went through apply to those types of circumstances. This amendment would go well beyond one particular service and would cover any medical service.…”