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1
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services
3Kathleen Sebelius has issued an order directing most American
4employers, including religious organizations and religious
5institutions, to provide specific insurance as part of the
6Affordable Health Care Act; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The First Amendment to the United States
8Constitution protects the free exercise of religion; and
 
9    WHEREAS, President James Madison, the father of our
10Constitution, understood that "religion then of every man must
11be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it
12is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate";
13and
 
14    WHEREAS, The required practices directly contravene the
15teachings and beliefs of many religious denominations and their
16practitioners; and
 
17    WHEREAS, The religious leaders of many faiths and others
18believe the order infringes on First Amendment rights and have
19denounced it as an assault on religious liberty and the right
20of conscience of many citizens; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, President Thomas Jefferson warned that "to suffer
2the civil magistrate to intrude his powers into the field of
3opinion and to restrain the profession or propagation of
4principles, on the supposition of their ill tendency, is a
5dangerous fallacy, which at once destroys all religious
6liberty"; and
 
7    WHEREAS, President Obama's administration has not offered
8a right of conscience exemption and has instead proposed an
9"accommodation" for religious organizations and institutions,
10indicating institutions will not have to pay for the insurance
11coverage contrary to their religious tenets "directly"; and
 
12    WHEREAS, There remains significant debate and ambiguity
13over the manner in which the Administration's modified order
14would be implemented; and
 
15    WHEREAS, The order would dramatically affect the ability of
16many religious-affiliated schools, universities, and health
17care facilities to continue to provide educational and health
18care services to their employees and families and to people of
19faith; and
 
20    WHEREAS, The order would seemingly supersede existing
21Illinois statutes, including the 1998 Health Care Right of
22Conscience Act; therefore, be it
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL
2ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
3CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge Congress to override the order
4created by the Obama administration in its entirety; and be it
5further
 
6    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
7delivered to President Barack Obama, Health and Human Services
8Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and the members of the Illinois
9congressional delegation.