Media Blast

I've spent the morning sending out a press release to all news media outlets.

For immediate release.
Contact: Pattie Curran, 336XXXXX, catholicmomof3@XXXX
Winston-Salem Joins Nationwide Rally Against the HHS Mandate Friday, March 23rd

Winston-Salem, NC —On Friday, March 23 from noon to 1 p.m. concerned citizens will hold a Rally for Religious Freedom at Hiram H Ward federal Building 251 N. Main St. in Winston-Salem to voice public opposition to the Obama administration’s Health and Human Services Mandate. The HHS Mandate forces all employers, even religious institutions such as Roman Catholic hospitals and universities, to offer contraceptives, sterilizations and abortion-inducing drugs through their health plans, contrary to their religious beliefs and doctrines.

Winston-Salem is joining over 100 other cities across the country for the March 23 nationwide Stand Up for Religious Freedom rallies, including New York, Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Miami. Find more information at http://Standupforreligiousfreedom.com

The Winston-Salem Religious Freedom Rally has been organized by Pattie Curran and Grace Garner. Special guest speakers include Father John Eckert, Debra Conrad, Stu Epperson, Pastor Michael Carbone, Julia Howard and Pastor James Knott. What: Stand Up Rally for Religious Freedom When: Friday, March 23, noon to 1 p.m. Where: 251 N. Main Street Winston-Salem, NC Who: Hundreds of citizens opposed to President Obama’s HHS Mandate

“This rally is intended to draw attention to the injustice of the federal government’s ignoring the first amendment and running over the conscience of American citizens as we seek to generate even stronger national opposition to the HHS Mandate—a ruling already opposed by millions of Americans,” said Rally Captain Pattie Curran. “We pledge to work for its ultimate reversal.”

Curran continued, “The HHS mandate actually seeks to define what constitutes religious ministry in its narrowly crafted so-called exemption. This sort of government intrusion must be opposed. This is not about the issue of contraception and abortion drug coverage—this is about protecting religious liberty as it is enshrined in the United States Constitution.”

The nationwide Stand Up for Religious Freedom coalition calls upon all Americans to oppose the mandate for the following reasons:

1. We protest the federal government's definition of what constitutes a religious institution and the mission of religious institutions through the narrowly constructed “exemption” to the HHS Mandate. Not only is this definition false, but the federal government has no authority to make it.
2. We protest that religious institutions (even under Obama’s so-called “accommodation”) are still forced to facilitate contraception, sterilizations and abortion-inducing drugs through insurance companies that are mandated to provide them.
3. We protest the Mandate for forcing all businesses -- not just religious institutions -- to provide coverage of contraception, sterilizations and abortion-inducing drugs, even if doing so violates the employer’s own moral position on these matters.
4. We protest the HHS Mandate -- requiring contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs to be given free of charge by all health plans -- in general because it treats pregnancy and childbirth as if it were a disease.

For more information please contact Pattie Curran

For more information on the Nationwide Rally effort, including media contacts for the national leadership team, visit http://StandUpForReligiousFreedom.com/press