Southern Baptist Convention Benefits Provider Files Class Action Over Contraception Mandate

Written by Don Byrd
GuideStone Financial Services, which provides benefits for the Southern Baptist Convention and other religious organizations, has initiated a class action lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate.

3rd Circuit Declines to Re-Hear Contraception Mandate Challenge

Written by Don Byrd
Here’s a brief update to an important story in the ongoing saga of religious freedom as it relates (or doesn’t relate) to the contraception coverage mandate in the Affordable Care Act.

By a 7-5 margin, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals voted not to rehear a panel’s recent ruling. Late last month, a 3-judge panel denied Conestoga Wood Services an injunction against the mandate. The 2-1 decision rested on the conclusion that for-profit, secular corporations cannot exercise religion, a finding that lands them in direct conflict with a ruling in the 10th Circuit on a similar challenge.

Where is the Limit of Corporate Religious Freedom?

Written by Don Byrd
As I posted last week, the 3rd Circuit recently ruled (in Conestoga) that for-profit, secular corporations cannot exercise religion. A few weeks before that, the 10th Circuit determined exactly the opposite (in Hobby Lobby) in halting the contraception mandate for a closely-held corporation owned by a family with strong religious beliefs.

Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick offers a helpful primer on the inevitable Supreme Court showdown over the religious freedom rights of corporations. Notably, she takes a step back to view this dispute in the larger context of employer-employee relationships and the neverending task of balancing interests.