Washington D.C., Jun 4, 2012 / 14:58 pm
In response to assertions by Professor Stephen Schneck that the federal contraception mandate is not a form of religious persecution, lawyer Hannah Smith is warning that it shows a dangerous disregard for the First Amendment’s protections of religious freedom.
“The HHS mandate is a serious infringement of religious freedom in this country, not just for Catholics but for people of all faith,” said Hannah Smith, senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.
Smith responded to arguments by political science professor Stephen F. Schneck, who recently argued that the ongoing concerns of the U.S. bishops and Catholic institutions over the federal contraception mandate do not amount to these groups “encountering religious persecution.”
Schneck, who is the director of the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., told CNA on May 30 that such language is “overblown.”