Chris Crawford is the Chair of the NH Conservative Future PAC:
Those who support the new Health and Human Services contraception mandate have largely stated that they hold their opinion because they are not a person of faith or because they disagree with the Church’s teachings on contraceptives. As a sophomore at an extremely secular college, I understand both of these arguments. However, both of the arguments miss the larger point: This mandate is an assault on religious liberty. If religious liberty can be assaulted from one side, it can be attacked from the other side as well.
I doubt that secularists would want executive power extended if a Republican candidate reaches the White House. Some social conservatives have a very broad view of the Constitution and believe that the federal government should be in charge of social issues. If we give President Obama the power to dictate health insurance policy to the American people today, and to disregard individual organizations’ consciences, we give the same power to every president going forward. So, while you may agree with President Obama’s stance on contraception, you may disagree with another President’s moral stance down the line. For example, a social conservative could state that women who want their abortions covered by health insurance must first go through counseling, or notify their parents if they are underage. Or, a social conservative in the White House could state that abstinence should be rewarded in health insurance plans.
Secularists would argue that this would be an overreach of presidential power. They would have a legitimate point, had they not sat on their hands when President Obama’s administration began dictating moral values through the Department of Health and Human Services. If we give one president the power to control something, that power doesn’t magically disappear at the end of their term; it carries on to the next one.
Additionally, think about the economic side of what is taking place here. When a government gives a faith organization the false option of violating their conscience, that organization will never concede their morals. So, the federal government is actually leaving Catholic hospitals and schools with two options: drop health insurance altogether and pay a fine, or hire only Catholic workers at your organization.
The fines that HHS would impose would be devastating to both the organization itself and for the workers. When faith organizations are forced to drop health insurance, Catholic nurses, teachers, and secretaries will be stripped of their health insurance. Additionally, gigantic fines would inevitably lead to massive layoffs at faith institutions.
So, the final option is to exclusively hire Catholics. Not only does this go against the value of inclusion that is shared by all religions, it also would force Catholic organizations to lay off thousands of Protestant, Jewish, and Atheist workers from their organizations. Additionally, it would force Catholic hospitals to only serve fellow Catholics. These two prospects would be a disaster for the middle class and the sickly poor.
We cannot view this issue through the narrow-mindedness of a single perspective. Those who do not share our faith are still expected to stand up for our collective liberty. If we begin viewing the Constitution only as a document that relates to our own individual lives, we will see all of our liberties drift away. The Constitution endures because we all stand united to defend it, no matter how it affects us as individuals. In the early 20th century, men stood up to ensure that the Constitution protected women and adults stood up to ensure that the Constitution protected children. In the middle of the 20th century, white people stood up to ensure that the Constitution protected African-Americans. Just this week, straight people have stood up to ensure that the Constitution protects gay people. Today, I’m asking that people of every faith, and of no faith at all, stand up to ensure that the Constitution remains true to its very first Amendment – to protect religious people from government overreach. We must all stand together to protect each other through The Constitution. As Daniel Webster famously said, we are “one country, one constitution, one destiny – now and forever.”
Chris Crawford is Chairman of The New Hampshire Conservative Future PAC and is Director of Pro-Life Ministry at The George Washington University
