STANDING TOGETHER FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

Catholic, Southern Baptist Religious Liberty Leaders Lead Open Letter Effort For Conscience Protection Given HHS Mandate

July 2, 2013

Archbishop Lori, Russell Moore, others urge expanded conscience protections
 Call for protection of religious freedom
Open letter to all Americans entitled 'Standing Together for Religious Freedom'

WASHINGTON—Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, Russell D. Moore, Ph.D., president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, and a wide variety of over 100 prominent national religious leaders and scholars released an open letter July 2 entitled Standing Together for Religious Freedom. The letter calls on the Administration and Congress to respect conscience rights and religious freedom.

The open letter highlights the threat to conscience posed by the Administration's mandate that almost all employers cover contraception, sterilization and abortifacient drugs and devices in their health insurance plans. As the signatories write, freedom of religion goes beyond mere freedom of worship and extends to believers' roles as citizen and employer.

"The doctrines of our respective faiths require something of us beyond the walls of our churches, synagogues, temples, and other places of worship," the signers said. "Those faith convictions manifest themselves through our daily interactions among family, neighbors, strangers and institutions."

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Use this link to read the letter