WASHINGTON, D.C, May 2, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – President Trump will sign an executive order on Thursday protecting the religious liberty of the Little Sisters of the Poor and ordinary Americans who don't subscribe to gender ideology or believe in same-sex “marriage,” two “senior administration officials” have confirmed to Politico.
The Nation released a leaked copy of an executive order in February that prompted outrage from the left over its protections for Christians who believe marriage is the union of one man and one woman and who don't want to be forced to fund contraception.
Politico says an “influential conservative who saw the text said it hasn’t been dialed back much” from the leaked text in February and that it contains “very, very strong” language.
This executive order would protect the Little Sisters of the Poor and other religious institutions from being forced to participate in the provision of contraceptives and life-ending drugs and devices.
”All persons and religious organizations that object to complying with the [contraception] mandate for religious or moral reasons” would immediately be exempt from it, according to the text released in February.
The draft of the order mandates that the Department of Health and Human Services ”take appropriate actions” to ensure that Americans aren't forced to fund abortion when they purchase health insurance. Everyone must have “the ability to purchase health insurance that does not provide coverage for abortion and does not subsidize plans that do provide such coverage,” it says.
It would prevent the IRS from unfairly targeting conservative or Christian institutions for holding a natural view of marriage. It would also protect people who believe, speak, act, or decline to act based on their beliefs that marriage is between a man and a woman and “sexual relations are properly reserved for such a marriage.”
Also protected would be those who live their beliefs that “male and female and their equivalents refer to an individual’s immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy, physiology, or genetics at or before birth, and that human life begins at conception and merits protection at all stages of life.”
This order would guarantee that religious freedom is protected “when providing social services, education, or healthcare; earning a living, seeking a job, or employing others; receiving government grants or contracts; or otherwise participating in the marketplace, the public square, or interfacing with federal, state or local governments.”
There have been increasing instances of photographers, bakers, and florists facing discrimination or punishment from the government for refusing to participate in same-sex weddings or ceremonies.
Thursday is the National Day of Prayer.
Although Trump has come through on many of his pro-life campaign promises, protecting religious freedom and the pro-family cause has been less of a priority for his administration so far.
The Trump administration is still defending the contraceptive mandate. He has appointed a number of LGBT advocates to influential positions and extended Obama’s executive order forcing federal contractors to have “transgender-inclusive” nondiscrimination policies as a condition of doing business with the federal government.
Although the rumored executive order won't completely undo the numerous victories social liberals have achieved in the last decade or so, it will be a significant blow to them.