Sen. Marco Rubio says President Barack Obama must fully "change his mind" on his decision to force religiously affiliated entities to provide birth control and abortifacients at hospitals and other institutions, and that a compromise on the matter is simply unacceptable.
In an interview with NewsmaxTV, the Republican from Florida warned the country faces "dangerous times" ahead because the president and his advisers have decided to follow a politcal course rather than protecting religious liberties as required by the Constitution.
Rubio said Obama's mandate was an attempt to appeal to the "fringe left" of his party.
If “we have an administration that starts ignoring that because they think their ideas are more important than the Constitution we’re living in dangerous times,” Rubio said.
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Rubio said the president must reverse course and that compromise is not really possible.
"First of all, I think compromise is always good,” Rubio said. “The problem is this has to do with a fundamental right. What are you going to compromise on, having half of your fundamental constitutional rights?" Rubio asked.
"You either have your constitutional protections or you don’t. You can’t give someone half of their First Amendment rights. And that’s what this issue is about.
“This is not about contraception; this is not about the Catholic Church. This is about whether the federal government of the United States should have the power to go in and require a religious organization to pay for something that the religious organization teaches against. I don’t think the framers thought the government should have that power and in fact I know they didn’t. I think it violates the Constitution and the best thing that could happen here is the president to . . . change his mind.”
The rule, first proposed in August and recently approved by the administration, requires the groups to provide contraception coverage with no out-of-pocket expenses for employees. Not covered by the rule are religious-run organizations that deal solely with a religious message, such as churches.
The rules cover basic birth-control services, including sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs and devices, and contraception.
The new Obama rule has been met with stiff opposition from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, many Republican legislators, and legal groups.
Several leading Catholic Democrats, including Vice President Joe Biden, cautioned the president before instituting the mandate, warning of a backlash from religious groups. Sen. Joe Lieberman tweeted yesterday that he opposed the mandate.
Former Democratic Party chaiman and Va. Gov. Tim Kaine said he opposed the measure as did Sen. Bob Casey, a pro-life Democrat from Pennsylvania. Both have contacted the administration about making changes.
And indeed, there are signs that the administration would back off some parts of the plan, but the White House has not provided specifics.
Spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Wednesday the administration was "focused on implementation of this rule," but made clear that it had time to try to address opponents' objections.
"There are ways to approach this that would ensure that the rule is implemented so that women have access to these important healthcare services no matter where they work, but also hopefully would allay some of the concerns," Carney said.
On other issues, Rubio said:
- The GOP presidential primaries are “making all of our candidates better . . . and I think it’s going to make them stronger when they take on President Obama.”
- Obama initially lost a year-and-a-half of time with the belief those countries such as Iran acted the way they did “because we were mean to them.” Rubio said that Obama now realizes that is not the case and has taken a more aggressive stance, but added every option must remain on the table to deter Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Editor's Note: Read Sen. Marco Rubio's comments on a nuclear Iran — Click Here.
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