Romney on religious freedom: ‘we’re all Catholic today’

(Catholic Culture) Asked during an Ohio campaign appearance about the effects of the HHS mandate on religious freedom, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said that “we’re all Catholic today” and pledged to “get rid of Obamacare … the first day I’m in office.”


“Religious liberty [is] our first freedom of those enumerated in the Bill of Rights,” said Romney. “And the president and his administration said they are going to usurp your religious freedom by demanding that you provide products to your employees, if you’re the Catholic Church, that violates your own conscience.”


“And so whether it's a Catholic businessperson or the Catholic Church itself they're being told what they have to do that violates their religious conscience,” he added. “That attack on religious freedom I think is a dangerous and unfortunate precedent.”


“And I know we're not all Catholic in this room,” Romney continued. “Many presumably are. But I feel that we're all Catholic today. In our battle to preserve religious freedom and tolerance and freedom in this country, it is essential for us to push back against that.”