Alert! Call Your Senators: Vote for the Not My Boss' Business Act

[theHandpuppet]

For more information, see...
http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/get-involved/actions/bosses-call-survey.html

Call Your Senators: Vote for the Not My Boss' Business Act!

[Squinch]

1. Thanks for the link. I'm just going to kick and sign all these, and call my senators daily on this.

I am their new best friend.

[misterhighwasted]

2. Will do. Thanks for the link. Critical Bill in play

[theHandpuppet]

3. Thanks!

And now we'll see just who votes for this bill, won't we.

[fizzgig]

4. one of my senators introduced it

and i am sure the other one will vote for it.

[Jim Lane]

5. More information about the bill

The NARAL link in the OP is just for lobbying your representatives, and doesn't describe the actual bill. There's more information in this article: "Democrats in Congress pushing to reverse Hobby Lobby decision on contraception coverage".

The key paragraphs:

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), joined by Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), quickly drafted a bill that would ban employers from refusing to cover any health coverage — including contraceptive coverage — guaranteed under federal law. The legislation includes an exemption from the contraceptive coverage requirement for houses of worship and religious non-profits.

A companion bill is being put up by Democrats in the House.

I was also struck by this passage:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has accused the Democrats of using the bill to score points for the fall elections and called it a "show vote" designed to sway voters.

How dastardly of the Democrats, to try to sway the voters by proposing legislation that improves the functioning of government. That's just a "show vote". Why can't they focus on serious business, like 50+ votes to repeal Obamacare? Nothing "show vote" about that, no indeed.

[theHandpuppet]

6. Thanks much!

Old Mitch feels Alison nipping at his heels. Let's hope she runs that hound right out of D.C.!

[theHandpuppet]

7. Statement from the USCCB regarding their opposition to the bill

Same old crap.
The full text of the letter can be found here (it's a pdf) :
www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/upload/07-14-14-S-2578-Cardinal-O-Malley-Archbishop-Lori-to-Senate.pdf

Here's the statement published at the USCCB website...
http://www.usccb.org/news/2014/pr-14-123.cfm
Cardinal O’Malley, Archbishop Lori to Senate: Oppose Bill that Attacks Religious Freedom
July 14, 2014

WASHINGTON—In a letter sent July 14 to all U.S. Senators, Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore stated their “strong opposition to the misnamed ‘Protect Women’s Health From Corporate Interference Act of 2014’ (S. 2578).” Cardinal O’Malley and Archbishop Lori chair the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities and Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, respectively.

“Though cast as a response to the Supreme Court’s narrow decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, the bill ranges far beyond that decision, potentially attacking all existing federal protections of conscience and religious freedom regarding health coverage mandates,” they wrote.

The two bishops identified several areas of concern with the bill, including its unprecedented curtailment of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993; its potential for overriding other federal conscience protections, including the Hyde-Weldon amendment on abortion; its application to coverage mandates beyond the HHS contraceptive mandate; its application to employers beyond for-profit businesses; and its denial of religious freedom for employees and their minor dependents, not just employers.

“In short, the bill does not befit a nation committed to religious liberty. Indeed, if it were to pass, it would call that commitment into question. Nor does it show a genuine commitment to expanded health coverage, as it would pressure many Americans of faith to stop providing or purchasing health coverage altogether. We oppose the bill and urge you to reject it,” they wrote.