Dear Friend of the Family,

Last Friday, I attended the “Stand Up for Religious Freedom” rally on Boston Common, the local rally that coincided with rallies across the country. Thousands of Americans nationwide participated in these rallies as a way to demonstrate their opposition to the mandate from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that requires all employers provide free contraceptives, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs through their health plans, even in violation of their consciences.

In a ploy to dodge scrutiny and buy time before November’s election, the Obama Administration announced with little fanfare that it would kick the final decision on the implementation of this controversial mandate down the road with a 90-day comment period on the proposed rules. They are asking for suggestions from the public on how best to implement this anti-conscience mandate.

As my friend Tony Perkins said recently, President Obama and his administration are using their bureaucratic delay as a way to have an “appearance of openness and progress, while in reality changing nothing.” The reality is that they are simply asking you and me how we’d like our conscience violated.

Let’s make this ploy backfire on the Obama Administration! Please join me in submitting a comment to the Administration with the message that you are tired of fake accommodations and ploys and that you demand real religious liberty protections. Here is some sample text that FRC provided to assist in your submission:

If the Obama administration is serious about protecting it’s citizens’ rights of conscience, it needs to get out of the business of defining who’s religious enough to deserve accommodation and protect all individuals, insurers and organizations with religious objections from being forced to participate in plans that violate their conscience. Please protect the rights of conscience for religious objections of all individuals, organizations, and insurers.

Here is the link again to submit your comments: http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=CMS-2012-0031-0001

We as people of faith need to be clear not only to President Obama, but to Congress, that our conscience rights are not to be infringed upon and that we are standing firmly in support of religious freedom.

For our families,

Kris

P.S. Our friends at the Manhattan Declaration have prepared a powerful DVD on this very issue, and one that we encourage you to show in your home or in your church. This DVD, titled “Breaking the Spiral of Silence,” features Christian leaders including Chuck Colson, Joni Eareckson Tada, Harry Jackson, Robby George, Eric Metaxas, Father Jonathan Morris and others. The DVD will equip you and your friends to articulate the reasons why religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and traditional marriage are so important–not just from the standpoint of our Christian faith, but for the right ordering of society. For more information and to order your DVD, visit www.breakingthespiralofsilence.com.