The Patriot Post® · Can Religious Liberty and Medical Care Coexist?

In America, religious liberty is still one of our more cherished rights. Throughout our history, Americans have enjoyed the freedom to worship as we choose, to live our lives in accordance with biblical principles and to even operate a business with those principles as our guide for doing so. And until recently, a person or business could exercise their religious freedom without fear of government interference.

During the presidency of Barack Obama, however, we have witnessed an intense and relentless effort to undermine religious liberty. Obama, his leftist cadres and their Rainbow Mafia enforcers have sought to pressure people via rules, lawsuits, fines and other compulsory tactics to comply with new despotic edicts that are in direct opposition to deeply held religious convictions and beliefs.

It’s part of Obama’s quest to fundamentally transform America. Although we are nearing the end of Obama’s presidency, his policies and anti-religious liberty movements will be something to contend with for decades to come, regardless of who wins the presidency in November.

The Christian faith has specifically been targeted by the Obama administration. While it is true that Christians in America have not had to face the same persecution and possibility of death as those in other countries, there have been business owners forced to pay fines or shut their doors because they refuse to violate their religious beliefs.

Fortunately, several states and religious groups are fighting back. The latest battlefront is the Obama administration’s rule against supposed discrimination of transgender patients, which would require doctors and hospitals to perform gender reassignment surgeries on children.

The rule, if upheld, will require Catholic hospitals and other faith-based medical organizations to offer this type of mutilation, among others, regardless of the providers’ belief that it is morally and ethically wrong. Catholic hospitals and Christian medical facilities also do not perform abortions, they don’t prescribe “aid-in dying” medications, and they don’t typically refer patients seeking these services to other medical facilities.

This is no small matter, either. Catholic hospitals provide medical services to one out of every six Americans seeking treatment. So what are these faith-based organizations to do? If the rule is enforced, then they will have to either compromise (which they won’t do), sell to some corporate conglomerate, or shut their doors altogether.

Simply put, many Catholic hospitals and other Christian organizations will not violate their religious beliefs in order to comply with government demands. We have already seen an example of this.

In both Illinois and Massachusetts, Catholic Charities chose to shut their doors to adoption services because of state laws requiring placement of children into homes with homosexual parents.

Should Catholic hospitals be forced to also close their doors, then there will be yet another consequence of Obama’s damaging “health care” law. For the longest time Obama piped that his law would provide more access to care. But if faith-based organizations shutter or even consolidate with other providers, then access to health care becomes less, not more.

Obama and his leftist cadres convinced many Americans that everyone has a right to health care. But that wasn’t enough, so his administration took it a step further and says everyone now has the right to access the care they desire whether they need it or not. And that access must be given regardless of the belief of the people who are providing it.

This is where we are after almost eight years of a president who despises the Constitution and Rule of Law, yet loves socialism and despotism. We have gone from quality health care and a free market approach to one of poor health care with mandates that contradict religious liberty. It’s a bit frightening, but we as a nation are very close to having compulsory services of all kinds. A lot can happen in the next several months, and don’t think that Obama won’t do as much as he can with the time he has left in office.