"Pledge for the Preservation of Life and Liberty"

Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life and Judie Brown of the American Life League (and formerly of the Pontifical Academy for Life) are among those signing the "Pledge for the Preservation of Life and Liberty,"

"Whereas, the founding documents of the United States and the principles espoused by our Founding Fathers affirm rights granted to the American citizenry based on freedom and human dignity; and

"Whereas, the Declaration of Independence affirms that all humans receive the inalienable Right to Life from a Creator; and

"Whereas, the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees each citizen’s Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Speech; and

"Whereas, the Constitution upholds the rights of citizens to live according to their conscience and moral dictates (1); and

"Whereas, many religions (and denominations and sects thereof) believe and teach, as a bedrock principle of their faith, that life begins at conception, and that complicity with abortion is unquestionably sinful and/or immoral (2); and

"Whereas, science, biology, and medicine confirm that, in sexual reproduction, each human being’s life begins at the beginning of fertilization, and

"Whereas, under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) the United States Government compels every citizen, regardless of religious belief and/or moral belief, to purchase an ACA qualified health insurance policy; and

"Whereas, the ACA, in most cases, will force those same citizens to pay for surgical and medical abortions, whether directly or indirectly, including drugs and devices that can end preborn human life; and

"Whereas, abortion, including drugs and/or devices that can end a preborn human life, is not healthcare; pregnancy is not a disease to be treated with abortion; and, abortion is an elective, life-ending procedure that kills an innocent human life;

"THEREFORE, we declare that we will not comply with any regulation of the ACA wherein we are forced to pay for abortion or forced to willfully participate in the killing of innocent children.

"In practicality, this means we will not choose an insurance policy that contains abortion funding, whether directly or indirectly, even to the point of choosing no insurance, at all.  Furthermore, we support any citizen who chooses to act in peaceful protest, including non-violent civil disobedience, as the government has no authority to force us, as free citizens, to violate our conscience or forfeit our religious freedoms."