Gregory S. Baylor, Senior Counsel with the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom will testify today before the U.S. House Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice chaired by Arizona Congressman Trent Franks. Baylor will speak about the increasing attacks on religious freedom by the Obama administration.
“Americans of all faiths have reason to be concerned about the Obama administration’s religious liberty record,” said Baylor. “It has taken extreme positions designed to dramatically decrease religious freedom. In order to protect our first liberty–religious freedom–Congress should consider taking steps within its power to curtail these harmful activities.”
One of the most significant examples ADF cites is the Obama administration’s abortion pill mandate, which forces most employers, regardless of their religious or moral convictions, to provide access to abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception under threat of heavy penalties. ADF is currently litigating numerous cases against the mandate, including Conestoga Wood Specialties v. Sebelius, in which the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling this month.
Baylor, who practices ou of the Washington D.C. offices will testify that “the current Administration has all too often taken what can only be characterized as extreme positions designed to dramatically decrease religious freedom.” His testimony will focus on three examples: (1) the promulgation and legal defense of the HHS contraceptive mandate; (2) the unsuccessful attempt to eliminate the Religion Clauses’ ministerial exception; and (3) the NLRB’s ongoing effort to intrude into the internal affairs of our nation’s religious colleges and universities.”