July 21, 2012 1:48 PM
Romney on HHS: We are all Catholic
"We Are All Catholic Today"
If Evangelicals and Catholics have a stronger alliance than ever, they have President Obama to thank. If any good has come from the administration's anti-faith, contraception and abortion pill mandate, it's the growing partnership between the two major groups. Nowhere is that more evident than the wave of joint lawsuits filed against the policy. Wheaton College and Catholic University made the latest splash, joining forces in federal court to battle Health and Human Services (HHS) for the right to exercise their conscience. Together with more than 40 other entities, their institutions are linking arms to fight for religious freedom--a fight that's quickly become one of Gov. Mitt Romney's top priorities.
"Religious liberty," he told a crowd in Ohio, is the "first freedom of those enumerated in the Bill of Rights. And the president and his administration said they are going to usurp your religious freedom by demanding that you provide products to your employees, if you're the Catholic Church, that violates your own conscience. And so whether it's a Catholic businessperson or the Catholic Church itself they're being told what they have to do that violates their religious conscience. That attack on religious freedom I think is a dangerous and unfortunate precedent. And I know we're not all Catholic in this room. Many presumably are. But I feel that we're all Catholic today. In our battle to preserve religious freedom and tolerance and freedom in this country, it is essential for us to push back against that."
His comments earned a standing ovation and chants from the crowd to "Say it again!" "I will say it again," Romney replied. "That's one more good reason to get rid of ObamaCare. And I'm going to get that done the first day I'm in office."
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