(AP Graphic)MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- By a vote of 67 to 28, the Alabama House on Tuesday awarded passage to the Religious
Liberty Act, a measure sponsored by State Rep. Lynn Greer (R – Rogersville) and
designed to combat some of the most intrusive and offensive provisions of the
federal ObamaCare social program.
Similar
to legislation enacted in Arizona, House Bill 108 would allow certain employers to
opt out of specific overreaching ObamaCare mandates requiring employers to
provide insurance coverage for contraceptives and abortion-inducing agents.
"There's
no doubt that ObamaCare is one of the most constitutionally dangerous pieces of
legislation ever passed by the federal government, and the fact that it
requires employers to provide coverage for contraceptives and help kill unborn
life despite their religious convictions is downright immoral," Greer
said. "It is my hope that the Religious
Liberty Act will help block Obama's efforts to force feed his social liberalism
down the throats of those in Alabama whose spiritual beliefs are being
violated."
Citing
the First and Tenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution and the Alabama
Religious Freedom Amendment of the 1901 Constitution, the bills allows a
religious institution or a "motivated employer" to notify its insurance
provider through a written affidavit that they do not wish to provide insurance
coverage for contraceptives or abortifacient drugs or devices to
employees. The insurer will then provide
a policy that excludes such coverage and retain the affidavit throughout its
term.
Greer
noted that Birmingham-based Eternal World Television Network, a worldwide
Catholic radio and TV channel, is suing in federal court to block Obamacare provisions
that require it to provide mandatory contraceptive coverage to its employees, a
clear violation of the church's teachings.
Other
non-profit groups, schools, businesses such as Hobby Lobby, and
religiously-affiliated institutions across the country have also filed suit to
block the abusive ObamaCare mandates.
The
bill, which is a major component of the 2013 "We Dare Defend Our Rights" House
Republican Caucus agenda, now moves to the Senate for consideration.
News Release from State Rep. Lynn Greer (R – Rogersville).
