Contact: Deborah Hamilton, 215-815-7716, 610-584-1096, dhamilton@hamiltonstrategies.com

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 15, 2012 /Standard Newswire/ -- President Obama's perceived "compromise" on the controversial birth control mandate actually wasn't a compromise at all, as Obama never changed the wording when he filed the regulation on Friday, after he announced the so called "accommodation." Previously, Senators Bill Nelson (D-FL), Bob Casey (R-PA), Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Candidate Tim Kaine (D-VA) have called for support of broader exemptions for religious organizations, but have fallen silent since the regulation was filed with the same objectionable language.

The mandate sparked a debate about religious liberty, as employers would be required to pay for birth control coverage, regardless of their religious faith.

The Heritage Foundation discovered that -- despite what Obama said at his White House press conference -- the actual regulations make permanent the "interim final regulations" issued August 3, 2011, the ones that sparked the furor originally.

The bottom line: "The amendment to the interim final rule with comment period amending 45 CFR 147.130(a)(1)(iv) which was published in the Federal Register at 76 FR 46621-46626 on August 3, 2011, is adopted as a final rule without change."

Translation: The Obama Administration Friday afternoon put into federal law the regulation that drew objections from nearly 200 Catholic bishops, 50 religiously affiliated universities, 65 North American bishops of Orthodox churches, numerous other Jewish, Evangelical and Lutheran leaders, and even some liberals.

Now, any changes to the birth control mandate will have to go through the formal regulatory process all over again. Instead of delaying final regulations until they could be revised, President Obama went ahead and locked into regulation his original position, accompanied by a (non-binding) promise to revisit the issue.

"This now-unchanged mandate that religious institutions provide abortion-inducing drugs and contraceptive services is the greatest assault on religious freedom in the history of the Republic," said Colin Hanna, President of Let Freedom Ring. "We are calling for Senators Bill Nelson in Florida, Bob Casey in Pennsylvania, Joe Manchin in West Virginia, and Candidate Tim Kaine in Virginia to stand up for the protection of religious freedom as they have called for in the past. Why haven't they spoken out on this phony 'accomodation?' The people deserve to know whether these legislators agree with the Obama Administration's unchanged mandate that STILL violates their consciences."

Let Freedom Ring unveiled a web site at www.VoteforBetter.com, where Americans are encouraged to use their 2012 vote to restore America.