Written by Don Byrd
A federal judge granted an injunction in the class action suit brought by nearly 200 ministries challenging the contraception coverage mandate in the Affordable Care Act. Among the plaintiffs is Guidestone Financial Services, which provides health benefits to the Southern Baptist Convention. The injunction comes after the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to hear similar challenges in the Hobby Lobby and Conestoga cases.
Associated Press reports:
DeGiusti repeatedly referred to the Hobby Lobby case in his ruling and said the ministries who refuse to provide the contraceptives also “face substantial financial penalties, and their refusal will cause a substantial financial loss to GuideStone if it excludes nonexempt, noncompliant organizations from the GuideStone plan.”
“Here, as in Hobby Lobby, the court finds that plaintiffs have made a threshold showing of a substantial burden, and, thus, a likelihood of success,” the ruling states. The ministries faced a Jan. 1 deadline to choose to provide the drugs or pay thousands of dollars a day in fines.
See Religion Clause for other recent development in other contraception cases. One judge rejected Notre Dame University’s claim that the accommodations offered through the Health and Human Services rules still violated the institution’s First Amendment rights. Another ruled against Catholic University’s claim, after finding the mandate does not substantially burden its religious exercise.
