Ryan: Obama threatens the values of Western civilization

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Sunday claimed that the policies of President Barack Obama endangered the values long upheld by Western civilization and the Judeo-Christian tradition.

“It’s a dangerous path. It’s a path that grows government, restricts freedom and liberty and compromises those values, those Judeo-Christian, Western civilization values that made us such a great and exceptional nation in the first place," the Republican vice presidential candidate said during a conference call with evangelical Christians.

A spokesperson for Ryan told the New York Times that the congressman was alluding to the so-called contraception mandate. The new Health & Human Services Department rule requires most employers to provide their employees with health insurance plans that cover contraceptive drugs and devices.

Churches and some other religious institutions are exempt from the rule. However, critics of the contraception mandate claim that requiring Catholic employers to provide contraception to their employees is a violation of religious liberty.

The Obama administration offered a compromise in February, exempting religious employers from having to provide contraception by shifting the cost to insurance companies. But the compromise was rejected by conservatives and many leading Catholics.