Obamacare’s contraception mandate loses in Colorado court
A coalition of civil rights group has persuaded a Denver, Colo. judge that Obamacare’s preventive care coverage provides a “substantial burden” on a Colorado company’s free exercise of religion.
Judge John Kane, who was appointed by President Jimmy Carter, granted a “preliminary injunction” barring enforcement of the law against the company, pending a full trial.
“This is the very first ruling on whether Obamacare can violate religious freedom and the judge said no,” said Matt Bowman, a lawyer for legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom, formerly known as the Alliance Defense Fund.
The Obamcare regulation was announced by President Barack Obama in February, establishing a process to review churches’ religious practices.
Churches that meet federal tests would be exempt from the Obamacare-related mandate to provide insurance that offered free contraception and abortion-related drugs to their employees, according to Obama’s regulation.
Obama’s controversial regulation prompted immediate protest from many churches and denominations, including the Catholic Church.
In turn, Democrats used that predictable protest to argue that conservatives and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney support a “war on women” that would prevent women from getting access to contraceptives.
Obama’s approval among single women subsequently rose several points amid the charges of a “war on women.”
However, Obama’s ratings also fell among critical swing-voting Catholics in battleground states including Ohio and Pennsylvania. Also, religious groups, including the Catholic Church, promised to launch an intensive campaign to inform their congregations about the impact of Obama’s unprecedented regulation of their churches.
Bowman’s case is Newland v. Sebelius with the U.S. District Court of the District of Colorado, and was brought by Hercules Industries — a private company that manufactures heating and air-conditioning products.
Preliminary injunctions are usually granted when the judge believe the plaintiff has a strong case. The judge recognized that the Obamacare mandate violates the Constitution and the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Bowman said.
The Constitution and the law require the government to have a compelling reason for church-related regulation, and to use alternative means wherever possible, he said.
The Obamacare mandate, he added, “could easily be served by the government providing contraceptive themselves … if there was the political will.”
According to the regulation, church groups must provide free birth-control services to employees not engaged in direct religious activities.
The rule ensures that the churches would have to provide services they deem unethical to their employees working in religious schools, hospitals and charities.
“This principle applies to all of those [religious freedom] cases that have been applied and will be applied,” Bowman said.
More than 24 cases have been filed against Obama’s regulation of churches.
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