What does today’s Supreme Court decision mean for the federal lawsuits and the Fortnight for Freedom and religious freedom rallies that have drawn attention to the HHS mandate’s assault on religious freedom?
1. Today’s decision upheld the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare.
2. Far from ending the constitutional challenges against the HHS mandate, today’s decision makes the many federal lawsuits challenging the mandate’s unconstitutionality — by 56 plaintiffs, at a recent count – more important than ever. It also puts the religious freedom issue precisely where it belongs: at the very center of America’s focus. The issue that the HHS mandate continues to pose is the right of citizens to conduct their own lives by doing what their conscience and religious beliefs tell them is right, free of oppressive government intrusion.
Let me repeat: the religious liberty concerns were not part of the challenge to the Obamacare statute and these legal challenges are as alive — and as strong — as ever after today’s decision.
Now is the time to re-double our efforts: praying, staying informed, getting angry and acting decisively to end the HHS mandate’s tragic and unprecedented government attempt to usurp our most precious rights. Warn elected leaders that it is also in their own self-interest to rescind the HHS mandate. And if they don’t reverse course, fire them — and replace them in November.
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About Ray Noble
ABOUT ME:
Retired lawyer-law professor-author. Raised in NJ, now living in Florida.
Widower and Father.
EDUCATION ACHIEVEMENTS: Summa Cum Laude, Undergrad debating scholarship, Fulbright scholarship, Campion Scholar at Oxford University, Presidential Scholar at Boston College Law School, law review editor.
DIVERSE PROFESSIONAL LIFE: Corporate lawyer, state (NJ) Deputy Atty General for Civil Rights, Law school associate professor (St. John's University), legal writer, author of guide for women at the request of the New Jersey League of Women Voters, state judiciary's chief of long range planning, state bar association's chief counsel, USIA law reform rep in Gaza and the West Bank, co-founder and overseer of 9/11 Mass Disaster relief program for World Trade Center victims.
In 2001, after 33 years of marriage and 8 children (6 living daughters), Alice, the love of my life (my high school sweetheart), died when she was only 55 years old. I still miss her deeply and always will.
But in 2002, an unexpected, new chapter began when I left the practice of law and became a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal for 3 blessed years. I served in the Hispanic apostolate and the pro-life ministry, counseling outside abortion mills in Manhattan and the Bronx. I loved the CFRs' radical commitment to poverty. I also treasured the abundant daily prayer that included Mass, the Divine Office, daily Eucharistic adoration and rosary, and both communal and private contemplative prayer.
But in 2005, while I was still in temporary vows, one of my daughters was hospitalized, with long term needs. It became clear to others and to me that my 3 years as a friar.was to become a prelude to other things.
Retiring to central Florida, I continue to see my daughter's needs as my first commitment. I also work to combat human trafficking. In my parish ministries and in my life as a single senior citizen, I try to continue the life I knew as a friar as much as I can. This website is a recent development. I hope you find it helpful and, at least occasionally, fun. I do.
