Republican Candidates for U.S. Senate Critical of HHS Contraception Policy

Two Republican Senate candidates from Connecticut expressed criticism of a controversial U.S. mandate that requires just about every employer, even those affiliated with the Catholic Church, to provide access to free contraception.

“The Department of Health and Human Services has overreached its authority and infringed on the constitutional rights guaranteed by the First Amendment,” Chris Shays wrote in a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “The implications are alarming.”

Shays, a former congressman, is a longtime proponent of abortion rights.  “I support reproductive freedom for women,” he stated in the letter. “[B]ut I do not support this new requirement. Employees have constitutional rights—and so do employers.”

One of his GOP opponents, businesswoman Linda McMahon, voiced similar objections. “The idea that the federal government would mandate that religious institutions like colleges and hospitals put practicing Catholics in direct conflict with their beliefs is unconscionable,” McMahon said in a statement.

“Through the First Amendment and the separation of church and state, the United States Constitution guarantees the freedom of religion,” said McMahon, who supports abortion rights but believes in parental notification and is opposed to federal funding of abortions and so-called partial-birth abortions.

“But this isn’t just a debate about religion or reproductive rights. This is an all-out assault on the United States Constitution,” she said.