I am the president of the Human Life Foundation, a non-profit, non-sectarian organization in Manhattan, dedicated to the defense of human life, founded in 1974 in response to the Roe. v. Wade decision. Our quarterly journal, the Human Life Review, seeks to change hearts and minds.

Accepting this mandate would be contrary to our principles. We would never be able to comply with a plan that would fund abortions or abortifacient drugs. We would not get an exemption because, though I am a proud Catholic, we are not a religious company—and even if we were, the narrow exemption specifies that the people served should be of the organization’s own religion.

Isn’t that insulting?

For thousands of years, Christians have been serving people of all faiths—it is OUR faith that we help the poor, the disabled, and the homeless … no matter what their beliefs. It’s an infringement of my rights to tell me how to run our charity, and it is a blatant attempt by the administration to marginalize those of us who defend the unborn.

But we will NOT be pushed out of the public square!

I am also here as a mother of three. On the 39^th anniversary of Roe, president Obama said, and I quote, “…We must also continue our efforts to ensure that our daughters have the same rights, freedoms, and opportunities as our sons to fulfill their dreams.”

Well, I also have two daughters—and I am very worried about THEIR freedoms. What kind of world will they be living in, if freedom of conscience is not respected? If freedom of religion is not protected?

I don’t want my daughters to think that their fertility is a disease that keeps them from being like men—I want them to rejoice that they are women and potential mothers. I want them to respect their bodies and demand that men respect their bodies as well. I do NOT want the government usurping my freedom as a parent to teach my children about sexual morality.

America was founded by those who risked their very lives to find freedom to worship God as they chose. The American experiment is a beautiful thing—diverse voices in the public square, working to build a just society.

The HHS mandate is an attempt to silence our voices, and take away the inalienable right that the Constitution recognized but did not create—the freedom of conscience and the freedom of religion.