Are you ready for the third annual Fortnight for Freedom, set to begin this Saturday? Bishop Paprocki of the diocese of Springfield serves on the Religious Freedom Committee of the U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops, and outlines why the fight for religious freedom goes beyond the federal Department of Human Services' mandate for all employers to offer insurance coverage of abortion-inducing drugs, contraceptives and sterilizations. Jim Geoly, a Chicago lawyer specializing in religious and not-for-profit representation, offers his take on the impending ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court regarding lawsuits from Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties against the HHS mandate. The decision on whether or not businesses can have a conscience is expected to impact the status of similar lawsuits by religious-based and nonprofit employers. To close out the show, Republican state Sen. Matt Murphy discusses the plethora of advisory referenda on the Nov. 4 ballot, including a measure asking if insurance plans should require the coverage of birth control. State law and the Affordable Care Act already require such coverage, leading many to criticize that the ballot question is simply a get-out-the-vote ploy in a gubernatorial election year.
