Pro-Life Catholic Group Back in Court to Challenge Obamacare’s Abortion Mandate
Priests for Life is back in court to fight for religious freedom. On behalf of the national pro-life ministry, the American Freedom Law Center filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the Obamacare mandate that Priests for Life’s insurance plan must provide contraception, abortifacients and sterilization services to its employees.
Priests for Life was the fourth organization to file a lawsuit against the mandate in February 2012. The court protected Priests for Life from the effects of the mandate, but declined to rule on its merits because the administration promised that accommodations for faith-based employers would address the organization’s concerns. Those accommodations, released in June, still do not provide Priests for Life the protection it needs from being forced to cover the objectionable drugs and services as part of their health plans.
http://www.lifenews.com/2013/08/21/pro-lif...
Priests for Life was the fourth organization to file a lawsuit against the mandate in February 2012. The court protected Priests for Life from the effects of the mandate, but declined to rule on its merits because the administration promised that accommodations for faith-based employers would address the organization’s concerns. Those accommodations, released in June, still do not provide Priests for Life the protection it needs from being forced to cover the objectionable drugs and services as part of their health plans.
http://www.lifenews.com/2013/08/21/pro-lif...
The lawsuit alleges that the regulations violate the Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act by forcing religious organizations to violate their religious beliefs.
The new lawsuit names as plaintiffs, along with the Priests for Life organization itself, the following individuals: Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director; Janet Morana, Executive Director, and Alveda King, Director of African-American Outreach.
“Our concerns are not resolved just because the insurance carrier pays for the services that violate our Catholic faith,” Father Pavone explained. “The fact is that Priests for Life still becomes the gateway through which people can have insurance coverage for some of the very things that our international ministry was formed to combat.”