But President Obama “does not believe that,” and has shown over the last three years that he thinks “the government can give you rights,” he said.
This is a problem because when the government thinks it is the source of your rights, then the government can also “tell you how to exercise those rights” and can even “take them away.”
Santorum pointed to a recent mandate issued by the Obama administration that will require virtually all employers to buy health insurance that covers sterilization and contraception for free, including the drug Ella, which can be used for early abortion.
The administration has refused to allow exemptions for most religious organizations, despite strong objections from groups that say the mandate will force them to violate their consciences and the teachings of their religion.
Santorum said that in issuing the decision, that Obama administration has told Catholics that “you have a right to health care, but you will have the health care that we tell you.” In this worldview, the government has the ultimate authority over what you “give your people, whether it is against the teachings of your church or not,” he explained.
The former Pennsylvania senator said that he is “a first-generation American, whose parents and grandparents loved freedom and came here because they didn't want the government telling them what to believe and how to believe it.”
But he never imagined that America would have a president “who would roll over that and impose his secular values on the people of this country.”
“When the majority of Americans oppose these radical ideas and they speak loudly against them, we need a president who listens to them,” Santorum 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.