Obamacare about funding abortions

To the editor:

Indiana. It’s home to each of us.

Our state has been the subject of a lot of controversy during the past couple of months with the implementation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (Senate Bill 101) passed into law March 24.

The law, if you actually read it, is very simple. It says the state government will not take action that substantially burdens a person’s right to the exercise of religion.

In essence, it is a protective order keeping state government at bay concerning all citizens’ religious liberties unless there is a compelling governmental interest otherwise. Sounds pretty simple. But why do we need the law?

Here is why. And this is crucial to understand. It’s all about the Affordable Care Act with respect to a back door attempt in getting abortions funded with taxpayer money. The Federal Government has made a direct attack on one of the most fundamental and deeply held religious principles: The right to life.

Although the AFA and the Indiana RFRA are both independent pieces of legislation, they no doubt are interrelated to the extent that our state legislators have seen the type of threat government (little “g”) can be to faith-based individuals and religious institutions.

In the fall of 2014 attorneys representing the city of Houston, Texas, issued subpoenas for copies of sermons delivered by a group of local pastors speaking out against a local ordinance dealing with a controversial social issue. Although this was at the local level it was a frontal assault on the church’s rights as a religious institution. Thankfully the subpoenas were dropped in the aftermath of a huge public outcry.

It’s interesting to note that any legislation with the words “religious” and “freedom” automatically causes the left to go in to spasms.

Religious rights are automatically interpreted as a threat towards the LGBT community and the pro-choice community. That’s unfortunate. But even with that in mind, the backlash against the statehouse should never have happened.

Nobody is going to be denied goods or services based on the state law. Protection is extended to all citizens under section 201 of the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 is there for all to see.

In fact, Section 201 paragraph B 2 specifically guarantees one’s right to be served in restaurants. But the Indiana law was too good of an opportunity for the left and the Democrats to score political points with the help of a sympathetic news media and convenient national coverage of the NCAA Finals in Indianapolis.

In a time when Christian principles and religious liberties are under increasing attack our state Representative Jim Lucas, Senator Brent Steele and Gov. Mike Pence got it right in working to protect us from an ever-growing reach of government concerning this issue.

Curt Nichols

Seymour