Group Rallies Against Federal Healthcare Mandate

COURT HOUSE – About 70 gathered in front of Cape May County Superior Court Oct. 20 to peacefully rally for religious freedom. Speakers cited the U.S. Health and Human Services mandates that, they believe, infringe on their rights and those of others.
The local event was part of a nationwide rally in over 130 other cities against the mandate.
Participants were part of “Citizens Opposed to President Obama’s HHS Mandate.” Most carried signs stating, “Vote for Life & Liberty,” “Stand Up for Religious Freedom,” or “Stop Obama’s HHS Mandate.”
The hour-long rally began with singing of the national anthem and Pledge of Allegiance.
Beth Ann Boehmler, who helped organize the rally, unrolled a large banner that was carried to the side of Route 9 where others held signs, and many motorists honked as they drove past.
Cause of the event, according to a release was, “President Obama’s HHS mandate, enacted under Obamacare, (which) attacks religious freedom by forcing employers, including religious schools and charities, to provide contraceptives, sterilizations and abortion-inducing drugs through their health plans, without regard to moral or conscience objections.
“The mandate’s narrow “religious exemption” runs afoul of the First Amendment’s establishment clause by defining as outside of religious ministry such activities as feeding the hungry, caring for the sick and educating the young, which have always been understood to fall within that sphere,” the release continued.
“The Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this year upholding Obamacare leaves it in the hands of the people, acting through their elected representatives, to overturn the HHS mandate. The Stand Up Rally highlights religious freedom as a key issue in this year’s general election.”
An opening prayer, “Fortnight for Freedom,” was offered by Rev. Edmund J. Speitel, of Ocean City and Philadelphia. A retiree, Speitel is also a retired U.S. Army chaplain who held the rank of colonel.
Carlino of Somers Point, an abortion opponent, declared, “Abortion is wrong.” She told the crowd after studying the Holocaust and abortion, determined she had to do more to convince others that abortion took innocent lives. “If we don’t speak up, we learned nothing from the teaching of the Holocaust.”
As Carlino spoke, horns honked, making it difficult to hear what she was saying.
Michael Donohue, county Republican chairman, also addressed the group. A member of the Knights of Columbus, husband and father, said when he ran for Assembly, among the forms he filled out was one from Planned Parenthood, asking his views.
He said he returned the document in short order proclaiming his opposition to the group, and his total advocacy of pro-life. He recounted the dangers patriots faced when they advanced radical views prior to the American Revolution, but noted those values were now endangered. The steps being taken in Washington, D.C. have endangered religious freedom, Donohue said.
He noted a family-owned western Michigan company, Autocam and Autocam Medical, that employs 680 people. Failing to provide coverage could cost the company up to $100 per day per employee – or about $24 million a year. The choice, Donohue said, is to either violate the family’s religious beliefs, strip workers of their benefits or close the doors and put 680 associates out of work.
“This is the thinking of the president and Democrats in Congress,” Donohue said.
He urged everyone at the rally to “redouble our efforts” to assist organizations, like Hope Pregnancy Center, where his mother worked, which “struggled every day for supplies. We have to step up for those types of centers.”
Finally, Donohue urged the crowd to “Seek out elected officials who support that (pro-life) position.”
County Clerk Rita Fulginiti also briefly addressed the group.
To read about the Michigan firm Donohue cited, that sued the federal government go to:
http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2012/10/west_michigan_ceo_sues_federal.html