Also of serious concern to religious communities in the 2012 election is a Obama administration mandate that requires employers to offer health insurance plans that cover contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, even if doing so violates their consciences.
The regulation has drawn widespread criticism from both the Catholic community and members of other faith backgrounds who object to the threat it poses to religious liberty.
The mandate was referenced several times at the convention, including by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who responded to commentary on GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's Mormon faith.
"People wonder whether guys like me, an evangelical, would only support a fellow evangelical," he said.
He observed that the only self-professed evangelical on the ticket this year is President Obama.
"And he supports changing the definition of marriage," he said. "(He) believes that human life is disposable and expendable at any time in the womb, even beyond the womb. And he tells people of faith that they have to bow their knees to the god of government and violate their faith and conscience in order to comply with what he calls, health care."
Huckabee is one of numerous Christians who have joined in the protests against the mandate on the grounds of religious freedom. He explained that "this isn't a battle about contraceptives and Catholics, but about conscience and the Creator."
"Let me say it as clearly as possible, that the attack on my Catholic brothers and sisters is an attack on me," he said.
Michelle La Rosa is deputy editor-in-chief of Catholic News Agency. She has worked for CNA since 2011. She studied political philosophy and journalism at the University of Dallas.