A Victory for Religious Liberties!

from Ohio Christian Alliance
http://ohioca.org
July 1, 2014

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the HHS mandate in the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. In its 5-4 decision, the court reaffirmed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RRFA)of 1993, which provides for very broad protection of religious liberty. Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his majority opinion, over a dissent from the four liberal justices, that forcing companies to pay for methods of women's contraception to which they object violates RRFA. Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Woods, plaintiffs in the case, faced huge fines under Obamacare's penalties if they did not comply with the mandate to provide contraceptives and abortifacient drugs for their employees in the company's health care plan. With this decision, neither the Green family, owners of Hobby Lobby Stores, nor the Hahn family, owners of Conestoga Wood Specialties, are required to fund abortion-inducing pills through their company insurance plan. 

The Green Family, Owners of Hobby Lobby Stores, risked all that they had worked for over the years to take a stand for right and conscience and religious liberty. The following is a statement released by the family: 

"Our family is overjoyed by the Supreme Court's decision. Today the nation's highest court has re-affirmed the vital importance of religious liberty as one of our country's founding principles. The Court's decision is a victory, not just for our family business, but for all who seek to live out their faith. We are grateful to God and to those who have supported us on this difficult journey." Barbara Green, co-founder/owner of Hobby Lobby

No to Medicaid Expansion

CCV Action is joining forces with Ohio Pro-Life Action in asking you to contact Republicans in the House because the Medicaid expansion has been repackaged as a "pilot program".  This is called the House Modified Program but it is still a social welfare expansion.  Ohio Pro-Life Action lists their concerns with this extension below and we ask you to contact the House Representatives at the phone numbers listed and ask them to vote against this Medicaid expansion! 

Ohio ProLife Action - No Medicaid Expansion
Federal Monies Attached to Anti-Life Policies

Ohio ProLife Action Statement on Ohio Participation in Federal Medicaid Expansion

Ohio Pro-Life Action is concerned that Ohio not accept federal monies which are attached to anti-life policies and regulations, nor encourage the federal government to incur greater debt to fund this expansion of federal control over Ohio citizens and their health care decisions.

Whereas, those states that participate in federal Medicaid expansion will be governed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) individual mandate requiring individuals to obtain insurance, thus legislating increased Medicaid recipients subject to the so-called HHS Mandate and entrenching Medicaid in these states as an arm of the federal government...

Whereas, Medicaid has covered for years, under states' limited discretion, the same measures that citizens are protesting in the HHS Mandate as a violation of conscience--surgical abortions (in Ohio in restricted cases),3 contraceptives, abortion-inducing drugs, and sterilizations...

Whereas, Medicaid expansion will expand these tax-funded practices to the underprivileged, which not only violate the conscience rights of many taxpayers, but are elective and medically unnecessary procedures and drugs...

Whereas, leading abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, is a recipient of Medicaid funding for so-called "family planning" measures, and funds for non-abortion procedures frees an abortion provider for its other programs....

Ohio ProLife action calls upon Governor John Kasich, the Ohio House of Representatives, and the Ohio State Senate to decline Ohio participation in federal Medicaid expansion and work instead for Medicaid reform for best use of taxpayer funds and essential medical care for the underprivileged.
  

Ohio House Member's Contact Info:

Adams, John (R-Sidney), 614-466-1507

Adams, Richard (R-Troy), 614-466-8114

Amstutz, Ron (R-Wooster), 614-466-1474

Anielski, Marlene (R-Walton Hills), 614-644-6041

Baker, Nan (R-Westlake), 614-466-0961

Batchelder, Bill (R-Medina), 614-466-8140

Beck, Peter (R-Mason), 614-644-6027

Becker, John (R-Union Twp.), 614-466-8134

Blair, Terrence (R-Washington Twp.), 614-466-6504

Blessing, Louis (R-Cincinnati), 614-466-9091

Boose, Terry (R-Norwalk), 614-466-9628

Brenner, Andy (R-Powell), 614-644-6711

Brown, Tim (R-Bowling Green), 614-466-8104

Buchy, Jim (R-Greenville), 614-466-6344

Burkley, Tony (R-Paulding), 614-644-5091

Butler, Jim (R-Oakwood), 614-644-6008

Conditt, Margaret (R-Liberty Twp.), 614-466-8550

Damschroder, Rex (R-Fremont), 614-466-1374

Derickson, Tim (R-Oxford), 614-644-5094

DeVitis, Tony (R-Uniontown), 614-466-1790

Dovilla, Mike (R-Berea), 614-466-4895

Duffey, Mike (R-Worthington), 614-644-6030

Gonzales, Anne (R-Westerville), 614-466-4847

Green, Doug (R-Mt. Orab), 614-644-6034

Grossman, Cheryl (R-Grove City), 614-466-9690

Hackett, Bob (R-London), 614-466-1470

Hagan, Christina (R-Alliance), 614-466-9078

Hall, David (R-Millersburg), 614-466-2994

Hayes, Bill (R-Harrison Twp.), 614-466-2500

Henne, Michael (R-Clayton), 614-644-8051

Hill, Brian (R-Zanesville), 614-644-6014

Hood, Ron (R-Ashville), 614-466-1464

Hottinger, Jay (R-Newark), 614-466-1482

Huffman, Matt (R-Lima), 614-466-9624

Johnson, Terry (R-McDermott), 614-466-2124

Kunze, Stephanie (R-Hilliard), 614-466-8012

Landis, Al (R-Dover), 614-466-8035

Lynch, Matt (R-Chagrin Falls), 614-644-5088

Maag, Ron (R-Lebanon), 614-644-6023

McClain, Jeff (R-Upper Sandusky), 614-644-6265

McGregor, Ross (R-Springfield), 614-466-2038

Pelanda, Dorothy (R-Marysville), 614-466-8147

Perales, Rick (R-Beavercreek), 614-644-6020

Retherford, Wes (R-Hamilton), 614-644-6721

Roegner, Kristina (R-Hudson), 614-466-1177

Romanchuk, Mark (R-Mansfield), 614-466-5802

Rosenberger, Cliff (R-Clarksville), 614-466-3506

Ruhl, Margaret Ann (R-Mt. Vernon), 614-466-1431

Scherer, Gary (R-Circleville), 614-644-7928

Schuring, Kirk (R-Canton), 614-752-2438

Sears, Barbara (R-Sylvania), 614-644-1731

Slaby, Marilyn (R-Akron), 614-644-5085

Smith, Ryan (R-Gallipolis), 614-466-1366

Sprague, Robert (R-Findlay), 614-466-3819

Stautberg, Peter (R-Cincinnati), 614-644-6886

Stebelton, Gerald (R-Lancaster), 614-466-8100

Terhar, Louis (R-Cincinnati), 614-466-8258

Thompson, Andy (R-Marietta), 614-644-8728

Wachtmann, Lynn (R-Napoleon), 614-466-3760

Young, Ron (R-Leroy), 614-644-6074

Stop Kasich's Murderous Medicaid Expansion

From Citizens for Community Values:

Ohio ProLife Action - No Medicaid Expansion
Federal Monies Attached to Anti-Life Policies

March 8, 2013--FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ohio ProLife Action Statement on Ohio Participation in Federal Medicaid Expansion

Ohio Pro-Life Action is concerned that Ohio not accept federal monies which are attached to anti-life policies and regulations, nor encourage the federal government to incur greater debt to fund this expansion of federal control over Ohio citizens and their health care decisions.

Whereas, those states that participate in federal Medicaid expansion will be governed by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) individual mandate requiring individuals to obtain insurance, thus legislating increased Medicaid recipients subject to the so-called HHS Mandate and entrenching Medicaid in these states as an arm of the federal government...1,2

Whereas, Medicaid has covered for years, under states' limited discretion, the same measures that citizens are protesting in the HHS Mandate as a violation of conscience--surgical abortions (in Ohio in restricted cases),3 contraceptives, abortion-inducing drugs, and sterilizations... 4,5,6

Whereas, Medicaid expansion will expand these tax-funded practices to the underprivileged, which not only violate the conscience rights of many taxpayers, but are elective and medically unnecessary procedures and drugs...

Whereas, leading abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, is a recipient of Medicaid funding for so-called "family planning" measures,7 and funds for non-abortion procedures frees an abortion provider for its other programs....

Ohio ProLife action calls upon Governor John Kasich, the Ohio House of Representatives, and the Ohio State Senate to decline Ohio participation in federal Medicaid expansion and work instead for Medicaid reform for best use of taxpayer funds and essential medical care for the underprivileged.
 
1 HHS clarifies exemptions from individual mandate in states that buck Medicaid expansion

2 "The Individual Mandate requires people to pay for what the HHS mandate covers (because the HHS Mandate applies to all plans)..."
Alliance Defending Freedom, ObamaCare and Its Mandates Fact Sheet, p.1

3 Guttmacher Institute: State Policies in Brief - State Funding of Abortion Under Medicaid

4 The Kaiser Family Foundation: State Medicaid Coverage of Family Planning Services

5 "...it is worth noting that state Medicaid programs are already required to cover family planning services without cost-sharing..."
The Kaiser Family Foundation Issue Brief: State Coverage of Preventive Services for Women Under Medicaid

6 ohiofamilyplanning.org/services.html

7 For example, in Ohio, plannedparenthood.org/swoh

Contact: Linda Theis, President, Ohio ProLife Action, 419/957-6632

Radiologist Plans to Defy Obama Mandate

The Unconstitutionality and Dangers of the Individual Mandate

Hat tip to Jack Painter, founder of the Indian Hill Tea Party for an excellent analysis of the arguments for the constitutionality of the individual mandate portion of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  This is the most comprehensive piece which I have seen on the subject.  He examines the angles being used to try to pass the individual mandate off as being constitutional, the dangers of such arguments, and argues for the uniqueness of the mandate in the legislative history of the United States.

Here is the link:

http://www.indianhillteaparty.org/files/RemarksToUCLawClass03-12-2011.pdf

The Ohio Project

Stop the the Obamacare mandate in Ohio before it starts! The Ohio Project is a petition circulating effort to get a nullification of the Obama mandate into Ohio's constitution. This proposed amendment would protect Ohioans from being forced to participate in the Obama plan, or any other healthcare plan hereafter. The language of the bill can be read at theohioproject.com. Instructions are given for petition circulators and signing locations are also given at the site. We need 600,000 signitures! There is not much time left!