Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.)

Potect all religious groups' rights
By Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.)
Springfield News-Leader
September 21, 2012

The College of the Ozarks recently announced that it is suing the Obama administration to defend religious freedom — its own, and all of ours.

The lawsuit comes in response to President Obama’s attempts to force almost all employers to provide coverage for contraception, sterilization and abortion drugs. Institutions that refuse will be fined heavily — even if they are following their deeply held moral or religious views. The administration says its health care overhaul, Obamacare, gives it the authority to issue this command.

This mandate was accompanied by an absurdly narrow exemption, which was limited almost entirely to houses of worship. After vocal protests from the religious community, the president gave some organizations an additional year to comply with these regulations — in effect, telling faith-based institutions they have one year to change their long-held views. I strongly opposed this move.

Before I was elected to Congress, I was president of Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, another faith-based institution that would not qualify for religious exemption under the administration’s order.

These groups — which feed the hungry, care for the sick, educate students and provide other services — do so as the fulfillment of a religious calling. Yet, faith-based groups like the Salvation Army, the University of Notre Dame, and St. Louis University are not considered “religious enough” to deserve an exemption from Obama under this regulation.

The First Amendment does not create two classes of religious groups, with only some allowed the freedom to follow their faith. That’s why many organizations object to these arbitrary distinctions in favor of treating all religious groups equally.

Congress recognized the importance of protecting religious liberty when it enacted the 1993 “Religious Freedom Restoration” Act. That law requires that when the federal government places a “substantial burden” on the free exercise of religion, it must show that it has done so to advance a compelling interest and done so in the least restrictive
way possible.

The College of the Ozarks should win its lawsuit based on this law alone.

I introduced the “Respect for Rights of Conscience” Act in the Senate to protect religious organizations’ constitutional right to exercise their faith. Unfortunately, instead of working to pass a bipartisan measure that has been part of the Constitution for 220 years, this debate was overrun by outlandish efforts to misinform Americans.

The Democrat-led Senate defeated this measure, but the fight is not over. Thirty challenges have already been filed in federal courts, and the Missouri legislature acted to protect conscience rights by overcoming the governor’s veto.

The next step is changing leadership in Washington. This November, voters have a chance to protect our nation’s long-held religious freedom, which institutions like the College of the Ozarks and other faith-based groups hold dear.

Roy Blunt represents Missouri in the U.S. Senate.