As Healthcare Overreach Spreads, Heitkamp Stays Silent

Heitkamp-Endorsed Law Forces Contraceptive Mandate on Religious Institutions

Bismarck, N.D. – The North Dakota Republican Party today called on U.S. Senate candidate Heidi Heitkamp to break her silence over the Obama Administration’s decision to force religious-affiliated charities, schools, and hospitals to cover controversial contraceptives in their health insurance plans.

“This latest mandate stemming from the Obama healthcare law is a troubling overreach into the private healthcare decisions of North Dakotans,” said Matt Becker, spokesman for the NDGOP. “Heidi Heitkamp said in 2010 that if North Dakotans ‘get the message’ on Obamacare, they would support it. Is this what she had in mind? This outrageous disregard for individual religious beliefs in favor of a mandate on religious institutions crosses a dangerous line against personal freedom. No one in North Dakota should be forced to choose between violating their religious beliefs and facing government penalties.”

Heitkamp’s silence on this breach of healthcare freedom stands in stark contrast to her flash response against the President’s decision to block the Keystone XL pipeline last month. Notably, Washington Sen. Patty Murray, who recruited Heitkamp to run for U.S. Senate, has called the mandate “good news.”  Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, a top Heitkamp contributor, said the entire Democratic caucus supports the President’s decision.  And California Sen. Barbara Boxer, also a Heitkamp contributor, called the mandate “a critical step forward.”

“As she campaigns to join President Obama’s top supporters in the Democratic caucus, North Dakotans are left to wonder why Heitkamp has nothing to say on this latest government overreach from a bill she aggressively supported,” Becker concluded.

Heitkamp on Obamacare Facts:

• Heitkamp actively campaigned to gather support for Obamacare in 2009 and 2010.
• 70% of North Dakotans did not want Obamacare at the time of its passage
• Obamacare adds $569.2 billion in tax increases and cuts $523 billion from Medicare
• The U.S. House recently passed the repeal of the CLASS Act, a flawed and financially unsustainable provision of Obamacare