Romney ad accuses Obama of waging a ‘war on religion'

ByABC News
August 9, 2012, 9:04 AM

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Mitt Romney is out with a new television ad that accuses President Barack Obama of declaring a war on religion.

The 30-second spot renews a fight Romney launched against Obama at the height of the GOP primary, when he trashed a provision under the Obama health care law that required religious institutions including schools and hospitals to offer its employees free access to contraception and the morning after pill even if its against their beliefs.

In February, Obama responded to the uproar by signing off on an "accommodation" that exempted religious institutions from the rule by allowing women to get free birth control directly from their insurance provider. But that's not mentioned in the Romney ad, which begins with a narrator asking, "Who shares your values?"

"President Obama used his healthcare plan to declare war on religion, forcing religious institutions to go against their faith," the ad says. "Mitt Romney believes that's wrong."

The spot, jointly paid for by the Romney campaign and the Republican National Committee, is clearly aimed at Catholic voters. It features footage of Romney's recent trip to Poland, including his meeting with former Polish President Lech Walesa—whom, as the ad touts, endorsed Romney's bid for president.

It also features snippets of a speech Romney delivered in Warsaw, in which he touted a historic 1979 mass delivered in the city by Pope John Paul II.

"When religious freedom is threatened, who do you want to stand with?" the ad asks.

The Romney campaign did not say how much it is spending on the ad or where it is airing.