I have been writing President Obama letters and have not received a personal response yet.  (He reads 10 letters a day personally and responds to each of them.) However, I did receive a form letter in the form of an email on Nov 1, 2012. I don’t know which letter of mine generated this response so I have linked several of the letters I sent to him below with the email that I received.  I think it could have been this one 84.4 but maybe not.  Most likely it was this one below:

Religious Liberty: Obamacare’s First Casualty

Uploaded by HeritageFoundation on Feb 22, 2012

President Obama c/o The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a pulse on what is going on out here.

Max Brantley on the Arkansas Times Blog on 3-6-12 again claimed that the Republicans will lose this debate with you on Obamacare and conscience. However, I don’t see how that is true and it clearly interferes unconstitutionally with the liberty of Americans.

Congress recognizes more each day that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known widely as the Obamacare statute, interferes unconstitutionally with the liberty of Americans.  From the Obamacare individual mandate to buy health insurance that awaits the action of the Supreme Court, to the Obamacare mandate that many religious hospitals, charities, and schools abandon the tenets of their faiths and include in their group health insurance for employees coverage of abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization, Obamacare assaults the Constitution and American freedom.

Fortunately, Members of Congress and the American people are waking up to the need to repeal the Obamacare statute and move instead to market-based, patient-centered health care.  Action in Congress this week to defend religious liberty continues to highlight the need to repeal the Obamacare statute.

The Obama Administration continues to trample on religious liberty by applying the Obamacare statute to mandate that many religious institutions’ group health insurance for employees cover abortion-inducing drugs, contraceptives, and sterilization.  The Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Treasury, and Labor published on February 15, 2012 final regulations that compel many religious hospitals, charities, and schools to abandon the tenets of their faiths and comply with that mandate beginning April 16, 2012, or pay fines for maintaining their religious faiths.  The final regulations did not include any changes to respect religious liberty that President Obama had led people to expect.

Although Secretary of HHS Sebelius has said that, for one year, she will simply not perform her duty to enforce the final regulations, her decision not to enforce the regulations temporarily as a matter of grace does not eliminate the mandate’s interference with religious liberty.  Indeed, her pronouncements reflect a failure to understand that religious liberty in America is an unalienable right with which our Creator has endowed us and a right that our Constitution’s First Amendment protects.  Our religious liberty does not arise from the discretion of the Federal Government to do Americans a “favor” and tolerate their religions.  Because President Obama and his agents continue to attack the constitutionally-guaranteed right of these religious institutions to free exercise of religion, Members of Congress are stepping forward to protect the Constitution.

Senator Roy Blunt (R-Missouri) has fought for religious liberty against the Obamacare assault.  He plans to offer this week Senate Amendment No. 1520 to S. 1813, the highway authorization bill, to protect the right to religious liberty against the Obamacare mandate.  The Blunt Amendment notes that, until the enactment of the Obamacare statute in 2010, “the Federal Government has not sought to impose specific coverage or care requirements that infringe on the rights of conscience . . . .”  The Blunt Amendment would override the Obamacare mandate that religious institutions provide coverage for abortion-inducing drugs, contraceptives, and sterilization when it is contrary to their faiths, allowing them to keep their faiths and provide health care coverage for their employees.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) has announced his intention to keep the Senate from voting on the Blunt Amendment by making a motion to “table” — that is, to refuse to consider — the Blunt Amendment.  Senator Reid said he considered the Blunt Amendment that  protects religious liberty to be a “distracting proposal.”  Senator Reid may treat legislation to protect religious liberty as a “distraction,” but hundreds of millions of Americans hold their right to free exercise of religion to be a precious freedom.

President Obama and Senator Reid can man the ramparts of Castle Obamacare against the people for only so long.  The American people want their liberty and they shall have it.  The Obamacare statute must go.

__________-

Thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is. I also appreciate the fine family that you have and your commitment as a father and a husband.

Sincerely,

Everette Hatcher III, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, ph 501-920-5733, lowcostsqueegees@yahoo.com

___________

Here is the response I got from the White House on Nov 1, 2012:

Nov 1, 2012

Dear Friend: Thank you for writing.  President Obama has heard from many Americans about the Administration’s decision to ensure women have access to preventive care with no co-pays or deductibles, including contraceptive services.  The President is committed to both preserving religious liberty and protecting women’s health.  He appreciates your perspective.   The Affordable Care Act requires insurance companies to cover additional preventive services for women without charging a co-pay or deductible as of August 1, 2012.  These preventive services include well women visits, domestic violence screening, and contraception.  The independent Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science recommended coverage of these procedures to the Secretary of Health and Human Services.  The vast majority of women have relied on contraception at some point in their lives, but too many have struggled to afford it.  The scientists and experts at the Institute of Medicine have documented significant health benefits for women that come from using contraception. Get the facts about the Obama Administration’s plans to implement this policy. The President understands the importance of the work faith-based organizations do and continues to take the ideas and concerns of religious groups seriously.  On February 10, 2012, President Obama announced his Administration will implement this policy in a manner that fully accommodates religious liberty while protecting the health of women.  After a transition, if a woman’s employer is a religious non-profit organization, such as a charity or hospital, and has a religious objection to providing contraceptive services as part of its health plan, her insurance company—not the employer—will be required to reach out and provide contraceptive care free of charge.  And, consistent with previously existing conscience clauses, no religious doctor will have to prescribe these services.  We will ensure religious liberty remains protected, and that women will receive the critical preventive services guaranteed by the law. Read an official White House response to a petition on this issue. Find out more about how the Affordable Care Act impacts you. Learn about the President’s efforts to provide affordable health care to all Americans. Thank you, again, for writing. Sincerely, The White House You are receiving this one-time email because you contacted the White House about a particular issue. If you are interested in receiving regular updates from President Obama and senior White House officials, please visit our subscription page to sign up www.WhiteHouse.gov/get-email-updates. The White House • 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. • Washington, D.C.  20500 • 202-456-1111

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