The New Year is barely 16 hours old, and already the Pennsylvania Family Institute team is at work advancing the cause of religious liberty and rights of conscience for you and all Americans.

Today, Randy Wenger, Chief Counsel of PFI’s Independence Law Center (ILC) was  interviewed by NBC and CBS affiliate stations on the critical issue of Obamacare mandates that threaten religious freedom, including for companies and ministries right here in Pennsylvania.  Those interviews will air this evening.

Also today, Independence Law Center allied attorney Chuck Proctor is being interviewed by NBC 10 in Philadelphia on the same subject: whether ministries and businesses owned by practicing Christians will be able to live out their faith and convictions without government interference or persecution.

In 2013, the Independence Law Center filed a legal challenge on behalf of Conestoga Wood Specialties, a Lancaster County business founded and run by a Mennonite family.   Mandates under the “Affordable Care Act” would force this company to provide insurance coverage for contraceptive drugs, including those that can cause an abortion.  The owners of Conestoga Wood say that mandate is a direct violation of their religious convictions and rights of conscience.  Failure to comply, however, would results in fines totaling $36 million a year.   That is tyranny.

By God’s grace, the Conestoga Wood case reached the US Supreme Court very quickly, and the court has agreed to hear the case in March.  Your prayers and financial support for this important effort is encouraged and welcomed.

And late last night, some very good news, as Justice Sonia Sotomayor put a temporary halt to the mandate at the request of a group of Catholic nuns that run nursing homes for the desperately poor.  They, too, faced severe fines if they refused to provide the contraceptive/abortifacient coverage.

This is a very good and hopeful sign that our Conestoga Wood case, and others like it (including a similar case involving the company, Hobby Lobby)  will meet with success.  But there is no guarantee – which is why I am asking for your prayers in the coming days and months.

Please also consider a generous contribution, not only for the expenses incurred in bringing cases like these, but also for our ongoing efforts to fight for the sanctity of life, the defense and promotion of marriage between one man and one woman, and the critical fight to defend our most precious First Amendment rights, including freedom of religion.

I hope you’re gratified, as I am, that the excellent Pennsylvania Family Institute/Independence Law Center team are at work for you and for liberty – even today, when most are experiencing a day of leisure and rest.  It is vitally important that more people here about these threats to our liberty — and having Randy and Chuck on these broadcasts is just one of the ways we accomplish this important work.   Your generous support makes it all possible.  If you’d like to make a secure online tax-deductible contribution, please click here.  Thank you!

Sincerely,

Michael Geer, President

Oh, and… don’t forget to watch Randy and Chuck on television tonight – or if you’re not in the viewing areas, perhaps online a bit later.  Here are the details, as I know them right now:

Attorney Randy Wenger:

Attorney Chuck Proctor:

  •  Appearing on NBC 10 – Philadelphia – Evening newscasts  (specifics TBD)