Mr. President, I Still Believe

Dear President Obama,

I am deeply disappointed at your recent failure to protect religious liberty in the context of the HHS preventive care mandate. As Americans we are used to having political and religious disagreements. But we should all be able to agree that the government should not force religious people and institutions to provide drugs and services that violate their faith.

The recent statement from HHS that it will give religious objectors one extra year to change their religious views added insult to injury. It is as if you are saying to religious people "We respect your religious views so much that we'll give you one extra year to abandon them." Religious principles have no expiration date. True protection for religious liberty--the kind required by the Constitution you swore to uphold and the federal laws you are obliged to enforce--requires a broad religious exemption, one that protects any person or institution from being forced to provide services in violation of sincerely held religious beliefs.

Please reconsider your administration's actions and order HHS to provide the kind of broad protection for religious liberty that our laws require. Doing so would honor the sacrifices of those who fought and died to give us our freedoms. It would allow religious employers across the country to stay in business and keep offering health insurance to their employees. And it would pay tribute to the great heritage of religious diversity upon which this great nation was built.

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A US appeals court has found California's gay marriage ban unconstitutional, in a case that is likely to lead to a showdown on the issue in the US Supreme Court.

Proponents of the ban said they would appeal against the ruling, and the Protect Marriage coalition, which sponsored the ban, called the judgment "out of step with every other federal appellate and Supreme Court decision".

The appeal is likely to keep gay marriage on hold, pending future proceedings. But gay marriage supporters celebrated. Outside San Francisco City Hall, Breana Hansen stood smiling by her partner, Monica Chacon. "We're so happy. It's a validation for us as a couple," She said.

The majority in the 2-1 decision by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals did not address whether marriage was a fundamental right available to same-sex couples as well as heterosexuals.

But the two judges ruled that California's Proposition 8 ban did not further "responsible...