Religious liberty in focus at rallies across US

In more than 140 cities across the United States Friday, protestors gathered outside federal buildings, Congressional offices and historic sites to oppose a new mandate from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that requires all employers provide free contraceptives, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs through their health plans, even in violation of their consciences.

A nationally prominent Catholic speaker, author and radio host, Al Kresta is the national spokesman for STOP HHS – an initiative of Ave Maria Radio that is promoting the “Stand Up for Religious Freedom” rallies. He told Vatican Radio there is, “[A]n unprecedented situation in the United States,” in which, “Catholic institutions are being forced to engage in activities and purchase products that they have been teaching against for two thousand years.”

Kresta said it is important to make it clear that this is an issue of interest to the whole public, not merely to Catholics. “What we’re facing here is not just a narrowly Catholic concern about contraception,” said Kresta. “What we’re facing is in fact an assault upon religious liberty and the First Amendment [to the US Constitution – which protects the free exercise of religion] as it has been understood throughout the long stretch of American history.”

Listen to Al Kresta’s extended interview with Chris Altieri: