Tens of thousands of Christian and pro-life activists gathered in over 160 cities across America on June 8 to take a public stand against President Obama’s impending contraception mandate that would require employers to include free contraception in the health insurance they provide their employees. Such contraception would include abortion-causing drugs such as RU-486, referred to by pro-life activists as the “abortion pill.” Religious leaders have expressed alarm that the mandate would apply not only to secular businesses, but also to Christian institutions and non-profits, as well as to Christian business owners who are morally opposed to birth control and abortion.

The two groups that organized the rally, the Pro-Life Action League and Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, explained in a statement that the event, the second of its kind in three months, was meant to send a “clear message to the federal government that it has no business defining the scope of religious ministry,” and to make a declaration that “faith-based institutions and even private businesses affected by the mandate will simply not comply with the government’s unjust intrusion into the affairs of religion and freedom of conscience.”

In Chicago, which organizers called “ground zero” for the nationwide effort, an estimated crowd of 3,500 Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim participants gathered at Federal Plaza, some holding signs bearing messages such as “Keep Your Mandate Off My Rosary.” Among the speakers was Rabbi Philip Lefkowitz, chair of the legislative committee of the Chicago Rabbinical Council, who declared that the mandate amounted to “an attack on any religious faith in this country.”

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Photo: Activists gather in Charlotte, N.C.: EWTN's Facebook page