Rubio: Administration’s contraceptive ruling might lead to ‘scarier results’

“To come and use the power of the federal government through the healthcare law to require the church to pay for something that that the church teaches is wrong, is violative of the constitutional right to religious expression and religious freedom,” said Rubio speaking on Chicago’s WLS Radio “Don Wade and Roma Show.”

“Quite frankly if you use the logic they have used to arrive at this conclusion it could lead to scarier results down the road,” he continued.

On Friday the Department of Health and Human Services handed down the decision, sending shockwaves through religious circles that oppose the use of contraceptives. The rule exempts places of worship from providing such healthcare plans but does not make an exception for organizations like hospitals that are affiliated with religious institutions. 

To the end of repealing HHS’s decision, Rubio said he and other GOP senators plan to introduce legislation, The Religious Freedom Act of 2012, that would simply compel the administration to provide exemptions for employers that object to providing contraceptives on moral grounds. 

Rubio said he hopes, however, that Obama will reconsider and repeal the rule on his own volition. 

“My hope is that the Obama administration will reconsider this decision and go back on it, because it makes no sense,” he said. “I don’t want this be an election issue. I don’t want to be a big deal.”