A Catholic pro-life group is launching a new campaign to get voters to call President Barack Obama to task for ignoring the promise he made to respect religious liberty and seek common ground on abortion.
Today, Catholic Advocate launched a nationwide campaign calling on people of faith to join together to protect our religious liberties. The campaign includes the web video entitled “Common Ground” and a petition calling on President Obama to live up to his promises made at the University of Notre Dame.
There, in a speech that was universally condemned by pro-life advocates and that had the Catholic university facing massive negative press, Obama promised he would respect the conscience rights of those who don’t want to participate in or refer for abortions.
“President Obama has failed us,” said Catholic Advocate president Deal Hudson.
He told LifeNews: “Shortly after taking office, President Obama gave the commencement speech at the University of Notre Dame. In this televised address, he spoke of the importance of cooperation and seeking the common good on decisive issues like abortion, saying: ‘When we open our hearts and our minds to those who may not think like we do or believe what we do – that’s when we discover at least the possibility of common ground.’ But without action, words are just words.”
Catholic Advocate is asking the millions of men and women of faith across the country to demand that President Obama live up to his promises delivered at Notre Dame through a nationwide petition.
“No other president in American history has so blatantly chipped away at our religious liberties,” added Catholic Advocate Vice President Matt Smith.
Some example of the violations, Smith said, include “continuing to allow taxpayer dollars to go towards abortion providing organizations like Planned Parenthood, to lifting the ban on stem cell research, stripping conscience protections for health care workers, and refusing to meet with or respond to our Catholic Bishops’ concerns, this president has made it clear that he does not care that his far-left agenda is undermining our right to religious freedom. This isn’t just a Catholic issue; it’s a religious liberty issue that affects all Americans of faith,” Smith continued.
Obama’s promise was most recently ignored when his administration took the first step to approving a recommendation from the Institute of Medicine suggesting that it force insurance companies to pay for birth control and drugs that can cause abortions under the Obamacare government-run health care program.
The IOM recommendation, opposed by pro-life groups, called for the Obama administration to require insurance programs to include birth control — such as the morning after pill or the ella drug that causes an abortion days after conception — in the section of drugs and services insurance plans must cover under “preventative care.” The companies will likely pass the added costs on to consumers, requiring them to pay for birth control and, in some instances, drug-induced abortions of unborn children in their earliest days.
The expected decision to adopt the recommendation has come under fire for not respecting conscience rights.
To view the Catholic Advocate video and petition visit https://join.catholicadvocate.com/promises
