Trump and Religious Liberty

REPORT: The State of Abortion in the United States, 2018
January 23, 2018
A Powerful Prayer of Protection for Expectant Mothers
January 23, 2018

By Donald R. McClarey, The American Catholic, January 18, AD 2018

As faithful readers of this blog know, I long refused to support Donald Trump for fear he was at heart a liberal Democrat.  How wrong I was:

 

The Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday it will form a new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division within its Office for Civil Rights. The OCR is the law enforcement agency within the department that enforces federal civil rights laws.

HHS said in a statement the new office will focus on enforcing existing laws protecting the rights of conscience and religious freedom. Existing law already prevents the federal government from discriminating against medical providers for refusing to participate in abortion procedures as a matter of conscience, but some health care professionals recently alleged they have been coerced by their employers to participate in such procedures.

Roger Severino, director of HHS’ Office of Civil Rights, said in a statement that “Laws protecting religious freedom and conscience rights are just empty words on paper if they aren’t enforced.”

“No one should be forced to choose between helping sick people and living by one’s deepest moral or religious convictions, and the new division will help guarantee that victims of unlawful discrimination find justice,” Severino said. “For too long, governments big and small have treated conscience claims with hostility instead of protection, but change is coming and it begins here and now.”

Acting HHS Secretary Eric Hargan said in a statement that Trump “promised the American people that his administration would vigorously uphold the rights of conscience and religious freedom.”

“That promise is being kept today,” Hargan said. “The Founding Fathers knew that a nation that respects conscience rights is more diverse and more free, and OCR’s new division will help make that vision a reality.”

Go here to read the rest.  The Obama administration persecuted Christians and the Trump administration protects them.  Elections have consequences.

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DONALD R. MCCLAREY

Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three and happily married for 35 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.

http://the-american-catholic.com/2018/01/18/73774/