Virginia Attorney General cites Martin Luther King in fight against contraception mandate

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Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli on Monday said opponents of Department of Health and Human Services regulations should practice civil disobedience like Martin Luther King Jr.

Cuccinelli said earlier this month that Catholic bishops and others opposed to the so-called contraception mandate should protest the regulation by getting themselves arrested.

The Attorney General explained Monday on The John Fredericks Show that the contraception mandate was a civil rights issue and an “egregious” infringement of religious freedom.

“Whenever I talk about religious liberty, you know they turn it around,” he said. “All they talk about — they don’t talk about denying religious liberty. They talk about contraception. And I’m not talking about contraception. Government doesn’t have a role in contraception.”

“Government does have a role in protecting your civil rights especially today on MLK Day,” Cuccinelli continued. “The man who really came up with the American non-violent protest theory of civil disobedience. It’s pretty egregious that they can’t get any higher than contraception when we’re talking about protecting people’s religious liberty.”

The contraception mandate requires employers to provide their employees with health insurance plans that cover contraceptive drugs and devices at no cost.

Watch video, clipped by Talking Points Memo, below: