{"id":1210,"date":"2012-10-02T08:18:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-02T08:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/mo-business-appealing-ruling-against-its-hhs-mandate-lawsuit\/"},"modified":"2012-10-02T08:18:00","modified_gmt":"2012-10-02T08:18:00","slug":"mo-business-appealing-ruling-against-its-hhs-mandate-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/10\/mo-business-appealing-ruling-against-its-hhs-mandate-lawsuit\/","title":{"rendered":"Mo. business appealing ruling against its HHS mandate lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

St. Louis, Mo., Oct 2, 2012 \/ 02:18 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- A federal district court in Missouri has dismissed a Catholic businessman\u2019s lawsuit that contends that the HHS mandate violates his religious freedom, but his lawyers say the decision is so flawed that it takes a position more extreme than the Obama administration and will not stand on appeal.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cObviously we\u2019re disappointed in this judge\u2019s decision, but this is just the end of round one. No one expected that this case would end at the district court level, no matter who won,\u201d Francis J. Manion, senior counsel with the American Center for Law and Justice, told CNA Oct. 1.<\/p>\n

\tManion said the businessman\u2019s lawyers are \u201cvery optimistic\u201d about success on appeal because \u201cthe basis of the court\u2019s ruling is so remarkably flawed from a legal and logical statement that we don\u2019t think the Court of Appeals will uphold it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe\u2019ve already filed our notice of appeal today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\tThe lawsuit was filed March 15 on behalf of Frank R. O\u2019Brien and his 87-employee company O\u2019Brien Industrial Holdings in St. Louis, Mo. He said his right to religious freedom is threatened by a federal Department of Health and Human Services mandate that requires most employers of 50 employees or more to offer health insurance plans that offer no co-pay coverage for sterilization and contraception, including drugs that can cause abortions.<\/p>\n

\tDistrict Judge Carol E. Jackson\u2019s Sept. 28 decision rejected the idea that requiring \u201cindirect financial support of a practice\u201d constitutes \u201ca substantial burden on a plaintiff\u2019s religious exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe court said the Obama administration's rules \u201cdo not demand that plaintiffs alter their behavior in a way that will directly and inevitably prevent plaintiffs from acting in accordance with their religious beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe plaintiffs are \u201cfree to exercise their religion, by not using contraceptives and by discouraging employees from using contraceptives,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n

\tThe decision said the mandate \u201cmight\u201d require the plaintiffs to subsidize activities they find objectionable \u201cafter a series of independent decisions\u201d by health care providers and plan beneficiaries.<\/p>\n

\tManion rejected the court\u2019s reasoning.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe fact that the court held that being forced by the government to pay for something that violates your deep religious beliefs is not a burden on religious liberty is an extraordinary finding,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIt\u2019s so extraordinary, in fact, that it\u2019s a position the government itself doesn\u2019t take,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\tManion noted that the HHS mandate itself grants a religious employer exemption. The government\u2019s recognition that the mandate infringes upon religious liberty is one reason such an exemption was created.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThat\u2019s why the president and (Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen) Sebelius have been talking for months about their efforts to \u2018balance\u2019 religious liberty with the right of access to contraception, as they see it,\u201d Manion said.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe court\u2019s position is something that the government itself has probably wished the court had not done,\u201d he asserted. \u201cTo win a case on such a flawed basis is not a good thing for a lawyer, even if you\u2019re the government\u2019s lawyer. I think they\u2019re probably regretting that that\u2019s the basis of this decision here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe Becket Fund, a religious liberty legal group, says that over 30 federal lawsuits representing over 80 individual and institutional plaintiffs are presently challenging the HHS mandate.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St. Louis, Mo., Oct 2, 2012 \/ 02:18 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- A federal district court in Missouri has dismissed a Catholic businessman’s lawsuit that contends that the HHS mandate violates his religious freedom, but his lawyers say the decision is so…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nMo. business appealing ruling against its HHS mandate lawsuit<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"St. Louis, Mo., Oct 2, 2012 \/ 02:18 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- A federal district court in Missouri has dismissed a Catholic businessman’s lawsuit that contends that the HHS mandate violates his religious freedom, but his lawyers say the decision is so...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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