Barack Obama

A former Obama official expressed his disappointment in the Obama administration's decision to mandate coverage of contraceptive, abortifacient and sterilization services without an exemption for all religious institutions morally opposed to using those services.

The contraception mandate is "inconsistent with who Barack Obama is, at least as I see him," Ambassador Douglas Kmiec, professor of constitutional law at Pepperdine University School of Law, said in a Tuesday interview with The Christian Post. "I've always admired him for his desire to find common ground among people and his desire to not divide people in any way that can be avoided."

Kmiec, a Catholic, was a Republican and had worked in the Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations, but he supported Obama in 2008. He wrote an editorial about a month before that election arguing that a Catholic can, in good conscience, vote for Obama, because, Obama is a "bridge builder" and someone who seeks to lessen political division in the nation. more >>

Presidential contender Rick Santorum may still have a chance at winning the Minnesota and Missouri caucuses and picking up delegates in Colorado, a Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey shows.

According to the survey, 29 percent of Republican Minnesotans support Santorum ahead of the Tuesday caucuses. Mitt Romney garnered 27 percent of support, while Newt Gingrich earned 22 percent.

The poll also shows Santorum with a 13-point lead over Romney in Missouri and a second place showing in Colorado. more >>

Pro-life Democratic presidential candidate Randall Terry has focused his primary campaign on dissuading as many left-leaning Catholics and evangelicals as he can from voting for Barack Obama in the general election.

Terry already accomplished a very big mission in airing anti-abortion campaign advertisements featuring the grim images of aborted babies to millions during the Super Bowl, but he is far from throwing in the towel and walking away from the campaign.

"I've decided to raise the money to be a deciding factor in the race," Terry told The Christian Post Monday. more >>

Conservative columnist George Will argued Sunday on ABC's "This Week" that the Obama administration's contraception mandate and Planned Parenthood's outrage over the withdrawal of funding by cancer charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure suggest pro-choice liberals oppose choice.

"All these people describing themselves as pro-choice said it is illegitimate to choose not to be involved in abortion. And, a much more important decision, politically, that was taken this week, was the Obama administration saying Catholic institutions have no choice, and this was applauded by pro-choice people ... but to provide contraception, abortion inducing drugs and sterilization," Will said.

The Komen foundation, an organization devoted to research and awareness of breast cancer, had decided to end grants to Planned Parenthood for mammography referrals because Planned Parenthood is currently under investigation by Congress. Pro-lifers applauded the decision while others, especially abortion rights advocates, decried it. Komen reversed its decision Friday. more >>

Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah) criticized Barack Obama's linking of Jesus Christ's teachings on wealth and the poor with the president's policy call for higher taxes on the most wealthy Americans as heard in his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, saying the president is not "theologian-in-chief."

Obama told prayer breakfast attendees Thursday morning that his tax policy is influenced by the scriptural saying "for unto whom much is given, much shall be required."

Hatch later sought to set the president straight on Jesus and the Bible. more >>

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) introduced a bill this week that would limit a controversial decision by the Obama administration mandating health coverage for contraceptive services. He spoke about that bill in a Thursday interview with The Christian Post.

The ruling requires employers to provide free contraceptive services, including abortifacients, in their health insurance coverage. There is an exemption for religious organizations, but it is written so narrowly that most religious organizations, such as schools, hospitals and public service organizations, would not qualify. Rubio's bill would expand the exemption for religious groups.

CP: Your bill, The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, S.B. 2043, expands the religious exemption, but does not get rid of the mandate altogether, correct? more >>