Dem Rep booed by constituents over HHS mandate

Rep. Kathy Hochul expected to get some questions on the economy and on gas prices when she met with constituents in New York’s 26th Congressional district last night. Instead, the freshman Democrat got booed by a crowded room over her support for the HHS mandate on contraception and abortifacients, and spent the evening getting an earful from angry voters... ◼ More at HotAir

Hochul*: “We’re not gonna agree on this one. I’m gonna tell you that I will stand for our religious freedoms. But I don’t see a conflict here. Now that there’s been an accommodation that says religious institutions do not have to provide these services.

A man in the audience shouted: “It’s an insult to the Catholics in this country to even listen to that gibberish. It is an absolute insult and Catholics deserve better. We were taking care of this country’s sick long before the government got involved in it.”

Father Leon Burnett: "What would happen to western NYC if we would decide to close all of our hospitals because of this?"

*Hochul's claim is false: They still have to provide insurance to their employees that includes free contraception and abortifacients. Who pays for the insurance? The religious organizations that get forced to facilitate those transactions, since they can no longer opt out of offering the insurance and must pay a large part of the premiums — and in some cases, the religious organizations self-insure, which means the money comes directly out of their pockets rather than indirectly. Either way, they most certainly still do have to “provide these services.” Hochul either is woefully misinformed or willfully lying to her constituents.