NORWICH – The Norwich Tea Party Patriots will join a nationwide protest against President Obama’s Health and Human Services Mandate by hosting a rally from noon to 1 p.m. Friday in West Park in front of the Chenango County Courthouse.

Local Tea Party coordinator Michael Kiciniski said, “President Obama’s HHS Mandate, enacted under the Affordable Care Act of 2010, attacks religious freedom by forcing employers, including religious schools and charities, to provide contraceptives, sterilizations and abortion-inducing drugs through their health plans, without regard to moral or conscience objections.”