From the time it was passed, the more the American people have learned about President Obama’s federal healthcare overhaul, the more they dislike it. According to a USA Today poll released earlier this month, three-fourths of Americans think the law is unconstitutional. Rasmussen Reports indicates that 53 percent of likely voters support repeal of the law, compared to just 38 percent who want the law to stay. Additionally, the Congressional Budget Office recently reported that the cost of Obamacare will be about double of what was initially expected, in the neighborhood of $1.76 trillion.

Although no state has the power to repeal any portion of the federal healthcare law, we should be willing to do everything in our power to make our voices heard. Therefore, the Ohio House in late February passed House Concurrent Resolution 35. The resolution urges President Obama “to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to rescind the rule requiring religious employers to include contraceptive services in their health insurance plans in violation of their religious beliefs.”

If the federal government has the power to mandate what religious groups do, then where does the government’s authority end? In the Bill of Rights, our Founding Fathers explicitly granted protection for religious organizations from the government. It is up to us to uphold these protections.

The rule was eventually changed after Americans made their opposition felt and heard. Unfortunately, the federal government simply redirected their focus from one irresponsible mandate to another. Under the revised provision, religious institutions no longer have to offer contraceptive services, but instead insurance companies must provide the service free of charge. The federal government should avoid determining what private companies sell or provide because it throws the competitiveness of the free market out of balance.

The more government gets involved in the private sector, the less room there is for other companies to enter the market and differentiate themselves from their competitors. When left alone, the free market can achieve extraordinary things. Limitless government intervention simply muddies the water and places barriers in the way of economic progress.

HCR 35 was a stand against the government trampling on our religious and economic liberties. A person’s moral convictions are too important to be left in the hands of bureaucrats in Washington.