Re: “,” Aug. 5 editorial.
The Post’s editorial incorrectly concluded that “a suitable compromise” to a court order prohibiting enforcement of Obamacare and its abortion pill mandate against Hercules Industries would be to require Hercules’ insurance company to provide such abortion pill coverage.
For those confused about who would pay for such health insurance coverage, it would be Hercules’ owners, the Newlands. This is because the Newlands’ employee plan is self-insured. Hercules is its own insurance company.
The Post’s “suitable compromise” is precisely what the Newland family, devout Catholics who have owned and operated this family business for 50 years, are fighting against: the requirement that, in violation of their faith, they include abortion pill and contraception coverage in the company’s health insurance plan.
Indeed, the court ruled that the government’s interest in requiring this coverage in Hercules’ insurance plan “pales in comparison to the possible infringement” of the Newlands’ constitutional and statutory religious freedom rights.
Hercules provides its employees with a generous insurance and benefits package, including premium benefits for pregnancy, women’s wellness and risk reduction. But Obamacare and its HHS mandate demand that Americans choose between two poison pills: Either comply with the government mandate and desert your faith, or resist and be punished. Religious freedom means that every American, including family business owners, should be free to live and do business according to their faith.
Americans don’t want politicians and Washington bureaucrats deciding what faith is, who the faithful are, and where and how that faith may be lived out. The Newlands know today what our Founders knew and fought for over 200 years ago: Freedom cannot be compromised.
Michael Norton is senior counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents Hercules Industries.
