Much has been made of Joe Biden’s false assertion that Catholic institutions aren’t forced to provide employees with free birth control. I noted here that VP Biden lied “through the use of grammar” by using the present tense. The Free Birth Control Rule applies to such institutions beginning in 2013, and hence while they don’t have to provide it today, they soon will.
But forcing religious institutions to violate their faith beliefs isn’t all of it. Little notice has been taken of HHS Secretary Sebelius’s stated intention to compel churches, not otherwise forced to pay for birth control, to inform employees where they can obtain subsidized access. From my NRO article, “Free Birth Control vs. Freedom of Religion:
In fact, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius declared that the Obama administration intends not only to force churches to do what the state directs, but even to speak as the state directs. From Sebelius’s official statement about the promulgation of the new rule:
We intend to require employers that do not offer coverage of contraceptive services to provide notice to employees, which will also state that contraceptive services are available at sites such as community health centers, public clinics, and hospitals with income-based support.
Thus, the Obama administration is attacking even freedom of worship by forcing exempt organizations to tell their employees where and how they can violate church teaching.
Not being a subscriber to the Federal Register, I don’t know whether HHS bureaucrats have started to promulgate a forced speech rule, but I think that threat shows the scant regard Obamacarians have for religious liberty.