WWII Vet Sen. Inouye: Obama’s Birth-Control Mandate Is No Pearl Harbor - the Hill’s Healthwatch
The Senate’s most senior member called out a Republican congressman for comparing the federal birth-control mandate to the events of Pearl Harbor and Sept. 11, 2001.
Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), a World War II veteran who witnessed the Pearl Harbor attack, said comments by Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) were “misguided” and “insulting.”
“I witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor and had the privilege of serving in the United States Army during World War II,” Inouye said in a statement.
“It is complete nonsense to suggest that a matter discussed, debated, and approved by the Congress and the President is akin to a surprise attack that killed nearly 2,500 people and launched our nation into the second World War, or a terrorist attack that left nearly 3,000 dead and led to fighting and dying in Afghanistan and Iraq.”
Inouye added that Kelly should “share his comparison” with veterans from the two ongoing wars.
Kelly’s office responded in a statement later in the day: “The HHS mandate is an undeniable and unprecedented attack on Americans’ First Amendment rights. Our freedoms and way of life have been under attack before, from both internal and external threats. If we fail to defend our constitutional rights, we risk losing the freedoms that so many brave men and women have given their lives to defend throughout the course of our nation’s history.
“We will not turn a blind eye to the HHS mandate’s attack on our religious freedom and we will work to stop this unconstitutional mandate from taking away our God-given and constitutionally protected freedoms.”
Under the new contraception policy, which took effect Wednesday, most employers must cover birth control in their health plans without a co-pay.
