The Obama administration announced on Thursday that it is giving businesses an extra year to provide the required health insurance coverage to their full-time employees without risk of incurring tax penalties.

“During this 2014 transition period, we strongly encourage employers to maintain or expand health coverage,” the Treasury Department blogged.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, noted that the Obama administration is delaying the “job-killing requirement” for businesses, but not for individuals and families, who are required by law to purchase health insurance in 2014, either through their employers or on the new health care exchanges. Individuals who go without health insurance will face tax penalties, dubbed “shared responsibility payments” by the Obama administration.

“While a delay of this mandate is welcome news since it shows the challenges the employers are facing complying with it, a delay — conveniently past the 2014 election — only adds to the uncertainty these job creators face because of ObamaCare,” Hatch said.

“And I certainly hope this action isn’t a back door attempt at getting more Americans into the exchanges, which have been plagued by problems.”

Hatch said the only “reasonable recourse” is to fully repeal the law.

“This delay, on top of the skyrocketing cost of insurance premiums, significant challenges with the exchanges and taxes administered by a scandal-plagued IRS demonstrate why this law is more unpopular with the American people than the day the president signed it into law.”

Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, employers with 50 or more full-time employees are required to provide health insurance for them, beginning in 2014, or face a massive tax penalty. The requirement, which caused many employers to keep their full-time staffs below 50, will now take effect in 2015.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Obamacare already is raising costs and costing jobs:

“This announcement means even the Obama administration knows the ‘train wreck’ will only get worse. I hope the administration recognizes the need to release American families from the mandates of this law as well. This is a clear acknowledgment that the law is unworkable, and it underscores the need to repeal the law and replace it with effective, patient-centered reforms.”

Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.), chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, said the employer mandate will destroy jobs, regardless of when it’s implemented.

“If anything, this decision exacerbates the confusion and uncertainty employers face, and serves as further confirmation this flawed law is a ‘train wreck.’ In fact, jobs are already being lost and workers’ hours slashed because of the president’s health care law. No amount of bureaucratic tinkering can ease the pain ObamaCare is inflicting on our nation’s workplaces. America’s workers, families, and job creators deserve permanent relief from ObamaCare, not a one year reprieve.

Mark J. Mazur, the assistant treasury secretary for tax policy, said the administration — in announcing the year-long delay for businesses — is responding to “concerns about the complexity” of Obamacare’s requirements and “the need for more time to implement them effectively.”

“We have listened to your feedback. And we are taking action,” Mazur blogged. He said the delay “will allow us to consider ways to simplify the new reporting requirements consistent with the law, and it will “provide time to adapt health coverage and reporting systems while employers are moving toward making health coverage affordable and accessible for their employees.”

The administration plan to publish “formal guidance” describing the change Within the next week. “Just like the Administration’s effort to turn the initial 21-page application for health insurance into a three-page application, we are working hard to adapt and to be flexible about reporting requirements as we implement the law.”

In a June 2013 report, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce urged that major elements of Obamacare “be rolled out in a more incremental way.”

“Without a more modest transition, the goals of the law will be undercut. By phasing in certain insurance reform requirements, the impending significant rate increases that will otherwise begin in 2014 can be mitigated. However, without such a phase-in, new insurance rating requirements will substantially increase health insurance premiums in 2014 and significantly disrupt access to coverage and care for millions of employees and individuals.”

Texas legislators today filed a new bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks and hold abortion facilities accountable for breaking health and safety laws after a pro-abortion mob derailed the previous bill.

The bill would ban abortions after 20 weeks and hold abortion clinics accountable by making them meet basic health and safety standards that have closed facilities in other states that are unable to comply. The bill also requires all abortion clinics to meet the same health and safety regulations as an ambulatory surgical center, requires a doctor providing abortions to secure admitting privileges at a nearby hospital, and lastly, requires a doctor to personally administer the abortion-inducing drugs to the patient.

Texas Governor Rick Perry issued a call for a special session of the Texas legislature to pass the bill that a pro-abortion mob prevented the legislature from passing last week.

“I am calling the Legislature back into session because too much important work remains undone for the people of Texas. Through their duly elected representatives, the citizens of our state have made crystal clear their priorities for our great state,” Perry said. “Texans value life and want to protect women and the unborn. Texans want a transportation system that keeps them moving. Texans want a court system that is fair and just. We will not allow the breakdown of decorum and decency to prevent us from doing what the people of this state hired us to do.”

Polls show a majority of Texans favor a bill banning late-term abortions.

Texas Right to Life provided LifeNews with more details on what is happening.

“House Bill 2 will be heard in committee as early as 3:30 p.m. this Tuesday,” the pro-life group said. “All Pro-Lifers in attendance in Austin are encouraged to join us at the Capitol Extension (E1.010).”

“We will be filling up the hearing room and lining up the hallways of the Capitol Extension about 1:30 p.m.-2:00 p.m.. It is expected that the testimony may run as late as midnight,” Texas Right to Life added. “If you attend a hearing day, please register at the Capitol kiosk in support of House Bill 2. The kiosks are on stands outside the committee room.”

Those who want to provide testimony should prepare a three-minute testimony explaining how abortion has hurt you or someone you love.

“When you register at the Capitol kiosk in support of House Bill 2, then you may also select your desire to testify. Be prepared for a long day and night, and bring snacks and beverages,” the group says. It is urging pro-life advocates to wear baby blue shirts when they show up.

“Today, July 1, we expect the bill to be referred to committee. However, it is not necessary for you to be present today. By mid-week, we will have the calendar for the remaining three days where your attendance would be beneficial. These days include: a vote in the House, a hearing in the Senate, and a final vote in the Senate. As soon as we have the calendar details confirmed, we will release that information to you quickly,” the group adds. “Attendance at any one of these four days would be very much appreciated. Some people are coming in for one day and others are arranging to be in Austin for all four. Parking may prove to be a bit of a problem. However, we’re currently working on securing private parking at area churches and businesses and then busing folks over to the Capitol grounds.”

Last week, after a long and confusing night filled with a filibuster and a pro-abortion mob that made it difficult for lawmakers to debate and vote, the Texas state Senate appeared to pass a ban on late-term abortions 19-12. Later, lawmakers came back and said the vote had not officially been taken before the midnight deadline for the special session.

Today, abortion advocates protested at the state capitol but pro-lifers drowned them out with signing of Amazing Grace.

Texas Right to Life provides a list of ways pro-life people can help now:

1. Pray and intercede for wisdom, courage, and strength for all of the elected officials who will vote on this measure. Pray that they will all stand for life regardless of the spiritual, emotional, and physical attacks leveled against them.

2. Call and email YOUR Representative and Senator starting on Monday with a simple message, “Please speak, stand, and vote FOR HB 2. My support will be significantly determined by the vote on this bill.” Visit this link to confirm your correct Representative and Senator: http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/Home.aspx

3. Come to the Texas State Capitol in Austin for the hearings and/or the final vote in each chamber when scheduled. We must not let the majority of Pro-Life Texas citizens be unorganized on this critical issue at this critical hour. (Committee and vote schedule details will be sent when available.)

4. Encourage your Pastor to personally use every communication available of pulpit, email, text, etc., to call out your congregation to join you in attending. There will be a special meeting space set aside near the Capitol as a reception area for pastors to pick up information packets, rest, and pray! Watch for more information.

5. Encourage your family, friends, co-workers and church members to join you in these efforts. Use the hashtag #Stand4Life on Twitter to show support for all Life. There is definitely strength in numbers. Now is the time to show that the majority of Texans are Pro-Life.

If you have questions or plan to attend, please contact the Texas Right to Life office at 713-782-5433.

A court ruling today says Christian-run business Hobby Lobby does not have to pay fines under the HHS mandate while its legal challenges continue.

From a report on the decision: http://newsok.com/article/3856764

A federal appeals court in Denver has reversed a lower court’s decision to deny Hobby Lobby Stores Inc.’s quest for an injunction against part of the Affordable Care Act that requires it to cover the cost of emergency contraceptives for some of its employees.

In a 168-page ruling issued Thursday, the appellate court sent Hobby Lobby case back to a lower court for further review. The panel of nine appellate court judges who heard arguments in the case in May ruled unanimously that Hobby Lobby and its affiliated Christian bookstore chain Mardel have the right to sue over the Affordable Care Act. The ruling is a blow to the federal government’s argument that as for-profit corporations, the companies cannot claim that the health care law is a violation of constitutionally protected religious freedoms. Five of the nine judges found that Hobby Lobby meets at least part of the legal standard to receive a temporary injunction against the health care law while its lawsuit is ongoing. The other four judges said the company fully meets the legal standard and that the appellate court should order the lower court to grant the company an injunction.

Hobby Lobby could have paid as much as $1.3 million each day in fines for refusing to pay for birth control or abortion-causing drugs under the mandate.

In December, a two-judge panel of the 10th Circuit denied Hobby Lobby’s request to temporarily stop enforcement of the abortion pill mandate. Now, nine 10th Circuit judges will hear Hobby Lobby’s case. Arguments are expected to take place this Spring.

The mandate would force the Christian-owned-and-operated company to provide the “morning-after pill” and “week-after pill” in its health insurance plan, or face crippling fines up to $1.3 million per day.

“The Green family is disappointed with this ruling,” said Duncan. “They simply asked for a temporary halt to the mandate while their appeal goes forward, and now they must seek relief from the United States Supreme Court. The Greens will continue to make their case on appeal that this unconstitutional mandate infringes their right to earn a living while remaining true to their faith.”

Previously, the 10th Circuit judges denied the motion calling the religious burden to the Green family “indirect and attenuated.”

The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma and U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton issued a ruling rejecting Hobby Lobby’s request to block the mandate. Judge Heaton said that the company doesn’t qualify for an exemption because it is not a church or religious group.

“Plaintiffs have not cited, and the court has not found, any case concluding that secular, for-profit corporations such as Hobby Lobby and Mardel have a constitutional right to the free exercise of religion,” the ruling said.

Heaton wrote that “the court is not unsympathetic” to the company’s desire to not pay for abortion-causing drugs but he said the Obamacare law “results in concerns and issues not previously confronted by companies or their owners.”

The appeals brief reads in part: “[I]n less than six weeks, [the Green family] must either violate their faith by covering abortion-causing drugs, or be exposed to severe penalties—including fines of up to $1.3 million per day, annual penalties of about $26 million and exposure to private suits.”

“The district court accepted that the Green family engages in a religious exercise by refusing to cover abortion-causing drugs in their self-funded health plan. There was thus no question that the Green family engages in ‘religious exercise,’” it adds. “[T]he Supreme Court has long rejected any distinction between “direct” and “indirect” burdens in evaluating whether regulations infringe religious exercise.”

Duncan said the judge’s decision did not question that the Green family has sincere religious beliefs forbidding them from providing abortion-causing drugs. The court ruled, however, that those beliefs were only “indirectly” burdened by the mandate’s requirement that [Hobby Lobby] provide free coverage for specific, abortion-inducing drugs in [the company’s] self-funded insurance plan.

The Beckett Fund says there are 52 separate lawsuits challenging the HHS mandate, which is a regulation under the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”). The pro-life legal group, along with Hobby Lobby represents: Wheaton College, East Texas Baptist University, Houston Baptist University, Belmont Abbey College, Colorado Christian University, the Eternal Word Television Network and Ave Maria University.

The mandate has engendered strong opposition from pro-life groups and Catholic and evangelical Christian companies that do not want to be compelled to pay for drugs for employees that may cause abortions.

The most recent polling data from December 2012 shows Americans support a religious exemption to the mandate.

The Supreme Court struck down on Wednesday a key provision in the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that denied benefits to legally married gay couples.

With a narrow vote of 5-4, married gay couples will now be able to receive the same tax, health and retirement benefits that are available to married heterosexual couples.

Reuters reported that hundreds of gay marriage supporters had gathered outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday, many of whom had waited for hours to hear the long-awaited decisions on DOMA and Proposition 8, a voter-approved amendment in California that defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

In March, the Supreme Court heard arguments on California’s Proposition 8, Hollingsworth v. Perry case, before reviewing the federal Defense of Marriage Act in U.S. v. Windsor, but decided to hold off on a decision until June.

United States v. Windsor, which concerns DOMA, involves Edith Windsor of New York, who married her female partner in Canada, who later passed away in 2009. When Windsor inherited the property, DOMA prevented her from being seen as the lawful surviving spouse, and thus she faced a tax bill of close to $360,000 – something which would not have been the case if the government recognized same-sex marriage as equal with marriage between a man and a woman.

While most U.S. states uphold the traditional definition of marriage, same-sex couples are now allowed to get married in 12 U.S. states, as well as Washington, D.C.

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A number of prominent political leaders have called for DOMA to be struck down, including President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton, who signed DOMA back in 1996. Obama has said that if he could, he’d strike down all bans on same-sex marriage.

Clinton, on the other hand, explained that circumstances of the time led him to sign DOMA. In March, the former president said that now times have changed, and he described the law as “unconstitutional.”

“Among other things, these couples cannot file their taxes jointly, take unpaid leave to care for a sick or injured spouse or receive equal family health and pension benefits as federal civilian employees,” Clinton said of same-sex couples. “Yet they pay taxes, contribute to their communities and, like all couples, aspire to live in committed, loving relationships, recognized and respected by our laws.”

Most Christians, however, oppose the redefinition of marriage, insisting that it is a union solely between a man and a woman.

Eric Teetsel, executive director of the Manhattan Declaration, a movement of Christians from various denominations with traditional values working to preserve the sanctity of life, marriage and religious liberty, said earlier this week that regardless of the Supreme Court’s decision, conservative Christians need to continue fighting for the culture of marriage and family.

“It took generations to erode marriage and family, with disastrous consequences. Restoration may take just as long,” Teetsel said. “No matter this week’s rulings, we will rededicate ourselves to renewing in American culture the profound beauty, mystery and holiness of faithful marriage. We will be patient in the light of any setbacks. And, in the end, we will succeed – if we do not give up.”

Earlier in June, a New York Times/CBS News of 1,022 Americans found that the majority feel the federal government should allow states to continue dealing with marriage on their own. Sixty percent of those who responded to the poll said that it should be the states’ prerogative, while only 33 percent said the federal government should have the right to define marriage.

The same poll found that 51 percent of Americans are in favor of legalizing gay marriage, while 44 percent oppose it.