Rep. Kelly Celebrates Supreme Court Ruling in Favor of Religious Liberty

High court upholds rights of religious employers
against Obamacare HHS mandate

WASHINGTON — U.S. Representative Mike Kelly (R-PA) issued the following statement today in response to the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that the federal government cannot force religious owners of “closely-held” corporations to pay for drugs or services that violate their religious beliefs. The cases, Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius, involved a challenge by two family-owned businesses to the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department’s mandate under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) which requires employers to provide employees with insurance coverage for contraceptive services, including birth control pills, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs.

"The highest court in our land has spoken loud and clear: the core religious freedoms of the American people are not subordinate to this president or his disastrous health care law. With this monumental ruling, religious liberty prevails and Obamacare’s oppressive mandate loses."

"No government program or politician must ever be permitted to punish an American citizen for following his or her faith. Freedom of conscience – without government-imposed consequence – is not a Republican right or a Democrat right but an ironclad American right. Today’s decision should serve as a permanent reminder that our Bill of Rights is not negotiable and that the God-given liberty of the American people will never be taken without a fight.”

NOTE: Rep. Kelly is a member of the House Pro-Life Caucus and a co-sponsor of H.R. 940, the Health Care Conscience Rights Act, which would amend the Affordable Care Act to protect rights of conscience with regard to requirements for coverage of specific items and services.

In February 2012, he co-signed a letter with 153 Members of Congress to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius seeking suspension of the health care law’s contraceptive mandate. Rep. Kelly had also sent Secretary Sebelius an earlier letter in September 2011 in which he called for the federal mandate to be rescinded.

In August 2012, Rep. Kelly signed 12 amicus briefs submitted by the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) on behalf religious organizations challenging the mandate.

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