Washington D.C., Jun 12, 2012 / 23:23 pm
Nearly 150 leaders and supporters of faith-based service organizations have spoken out against the Obama administration's contraception mandate because it creates class distinctions for religious groups.
The mandate and its narrow exemption create a "two-class scheme" of religious organizations that "honors acts of worship while burdening those whose faith leads them to service in our common life," they argued.
In a June 11 letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, the leaders voiced "grave concern" over the two-class concept of religious organizations that was "embedded in federal law" in February, when the mandate was finalized in its original form.
The letter was organized by the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance, a D.C.-based coalition that works to protect the religious identity and work of faith-based organizations throughout America.