Contact: Tom Ciesielka, 312-422-1333

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- In Tuesday night's debate, President Obama brought up Planned Parenthood four separate times, criticizing Governor Romney for favoring defunding of the abortion provider. The President emphasized the importance of access to free contraceptives, ignoring the fact that Federal Courts are currently reviewing the dangers that contraceptive drugs pose to women's health.

Life Legal Defense Foundation released the following statement:

As President Obama continues to sell the benefits of Obamacare and his perceived need for free contraceptives, more court cases are challenging the constitutionality of the Health and Human Services mandate requiring all employers to provide insurance coverage of abortions, sterilization, and birth control for their employees.

Even as the current administration pushes for free contraceptives for all, federal judges are hearing legal arguments that focus on the danger that some contraceptives pose to women's health. These cases, supported by amicus briefs from the Life Legal Defense Foundation (LLDF), are before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan Southern Division and the United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Rather than promote the health and well-being of women and children, LLDF brings to bear substantial evidence that hormonal contraceptives pose serious health risks to women. Some of the health hazards listed for the now mandatorily provided drugs include higher risk of heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular complications, greater susceptibility to sexually transmitted infections, and higher risk of breast cancer, cervical cancer, and liver tumors that could bleed or rupture.

Dana Cody, LLDF Executive Director, said, "This Obamacare mandate purports to promote the health and well-being of people. Religious objections aside, there is overwhelming evidence that what the Obama administration has mandated puts women at serious risk for major health problems. The way the law stands now, no employer is allowed to decide that they will not expose their female employees to these major health hazards. And let's not lose sight of the fact that ella and Plan B must be provided as part of the mandate, so in addition to harming women's health, lives are lost by chemical abortion."

READ THE FEDERAL COURT FILINGS:

www.scribd.com/doc/107165095/Amicus-Brief-by-Bioethics-Defense-Fund-and-Life-Legal-Defense-Foundation

www.lldf.org/wp-content/uploads/HHS-contraceptive-brief-Wheaton.pdf

LEARN MORE ABOUT LIFE LEGAL DEFENSE FOUNDATION: www.lldf.org