TX Attorney General Abbott Files Challenge on Obamacare Mandate

As the debates continue over the mandate in Obamacare which requires a breech in religious freedom and the issue of contraception availability through insurance benefits provided by religious institutions to its employees, seven states came together Wednesday to challenge it. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is representing the State of Texas in this challenge.

AG Abbott released the following statement:

"Obamacare's latest mandate tramples the First Amendment's Freedom of Religion and compels people of faith to act contrary to their convictions. The President's so-called 'accommodation' was nothing but a shell game: the mandate still requires religious organizations to subsidize and authorize conduct that conflicts with their religious principles. The very first amendment to our Constitution was intended to protect against this sort of government intrusion into our religious convictions."

The seven states filing the challenge were Texas, Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, and South Carolina.

These are the legal principles which are argued on the unconstitutionality of the mandate:

•A conflict with the First Amendment's basic elements of the freedoms of religion, speech and association.

•A violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act by requiring the federal government to troll through an organization's religious beliefs to determine whether the organization is religious enough to be exempt from the rule's mandates.

•That the practical effect will force religious employers and organizations to drop health insurance coverage, which will effect increased enrollment in state Medicaid programs and state-subsidized hospitals and medical centers.

As much as liberals and the Obama administration would like to make this about conservatives trying to deny health care to women, this is not the issue. The issue is freedom of religion, one of our basic rights.