FEB 10, 2012
Columbia - Attorney General Alan Wilson today joined attorneys general from the states of Nebraska, Texas, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Maine, North Dakota, Ohio, and Oklahoma in opposition to a recently announced federal mandate upon religious entities. The mandate, proposed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, requires religious employers that provide health insurance coverage to their employees to include coverage for contraceptives, sterilization, and related services.
The attorneys general wrote a letter to the Secretaries of the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury, and Labor, informing them that if such a mandate is promulgated, the states are “prepared to vigorously oppose it in court.”
Regarding the mandate, Wilson said, “The proposed mandate would clearly be an unconstitutional burden on religious entities that currently provide health care to their employees.”
“Such an action would be an unprecedented and troubling coercion of organizations and individuals to act contrary to their religious beliefs.”
Read the full letter here : AGs Letter on Religious Liberty
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