Hundreds Rally for Religious Freedom in Scranton
By: Eric Deabill
Updated: March 23, 2012
Scranton, Lackawanna County - Hundreds of people gathered in Scranton Friday afternoon to send a message to Washington, DC.
A rally for religious freedom was held on Courthouse Square in Scranton.
The goal was to oppose the Obama Adminstration's Health and Human Services Mandate.
People came from all across northeastern Pennsylvania for the rally. They had signs and flags.
"We cannot have our rights mandated on something that is unconscionable for us to agree on. It goes against our faith," Ada Magni of West Wyoming said.
The mandate would force employers, including religious institutions, to offer contraceptives through their health plans. Many people say that goes against their religious beliefs.
"Basically what they're trying to do is say 'hey, we want to tell you guys what to do,'" Pastor Wilfredo Medina said.
Friday's rally in Scranton was one of about 140 taking place all across the country.
"Even John F. Kennedy said, 'Religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all.' Manya Vitzakovitch of Lake Ariel said. "What will he (President Obama) do next? What will our government do?"
While Friday's rally drew hundreds, down the street a much smaller group of only three people gathered in favor of their reproductive rights.
"Freedom of religion is a constitutional right but reproductive rights are also, they should be a right as well," Kelsey Winterbottom of Scranton said.
"I think the division of us is what's going to be our downfall and we have to be wise to those that are trying to manipulate that to make that division," rally organizer Mary Ann Haas said.
