Romney charged, that devotion to religious freedom “goes out the window” for “the agenda of the left-wing of the Democratic Party.” He linked the mandate to abortion on demand and opposition to abstinence education.

“They would force Catholics and others who have beliefs rooted in their faith to sacrifice the teachings of their faith to the mandate of federal bureaucrats,” Romney said.

He also criticized the Obama administration’s 12-month extension for religious groups to comply with the mandate, calling it “a clumsy attempt to push this matter past this year’s presidential election.”

“The America I believe in is governed by the U.S. Constitution and I will not hesitate to use the powers of the presidency to protect religious liberty,” Romney stated.

Newt Gingrich, a convert to Catholicism, charged that the mandate is part of a “war against Christianity.” During his campaign in Florida, ahead of the state primary, he pledged to overturn all “anti-religious” federal policies on his first day in office.

“Barack Obama and Kathleen Sebelius said ‘Too bad. If it goes against what you believe, then you believe the wrong things,’” Santorum said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg of what we can expect.”

Ron Paul said the mandate “violates the conscience of millions of pro-life Americans.” He said he views the “regulatory overstep” as “payback to Planned Parenthood and big pharmaceutical companies for their support of Obamacare.”

The mantra from progressives, both secular and religious, is that “conservatives” conjured up imaginary abortion-enhancing provisions in ObamaCare. Thus, those who stood up for the “truth”–that it didn’t–ought to be congratulated and supported, not left hanging out to dry.

But the truth is, progressive/liberals weren’t telling the truth. As NRLC explained from the very beginning, ObamaCare contained multiple provisions that provide authorizations for subsidies for abortion, both implicit and explicit, and also multiple provisions that opened doors to abortion-expanding administrative actions (just for starters). Those within the Catholic Church that Dionne derided as having “sought to derail the health-care law” agreed independently with NRLC’s analysis and sought unsuccessfully to have the provisions removed.

(That free pass includes erstwhile pro-life Democrats such as former Michigan Representative Bart Stupak, who carried the water for a bogus executive order Obama promised at the eleventh hour, making passage possible. As NRLC said at the time, “The executive order promised by President Obama was issued for political effect. It changes nothing. It does not correct any of the serious pro-abortion provisions in the bill. The president cannot amend a bill by issuing an order, and the federal courts will enforce what the law says.”)

Third, the attack on conscience is not a newly geared-up offensive, unleashed late in the game by Obama. To cite just one example, a year ago, the Obama Administration rescinded a regulation that has been issued by the Bush Administration which would have protected healthcare providers from being penalized for refusing to participate in providing abortions.

Not that Obama hasn’t pretended (and promised) otherwise. In his 2009 commencement address at the University of Notre Dame, Obama said, “Let’s honor the conscience of those” who disagree with abortion “and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our health-care policies are grounded not only in sound science but also in clear ethics, as well as respect for the equality of women.”

That, of course, proved to be nothing more than reassuring rhetoric that means nothing as Obama seeks to please his base.

Pro-life Congressman Chris Smith put it perfectly, speaking at the March for Life January 23.

“The weakening and systematic undermining of conscience protections are at the top of Mr. Obama’s wish list as well as the ‘integration’ of abortion into national and international programs.” National Right To Life