{"id":1876,"date":"2012-12-19T23:30:00","date_gmt":"2012-12-19T23:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/dc-appeals-court-rules-new-contraception-rule-must-be-issued\/"},"modified":"2012-12-19T23:30:00","modified_gmt":"2012-12-19T23:30:00","slug":"dc-appeals-court-rules-new-contraception-rule-must-be-issued","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2012\/12\/dc-appeals-court-rules-new-contraception-rule-must-be-issued\/","title":{"rendered":"DC appeals court rules new contraception rule must be issued"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Washington D.C., Dec 19, 2012 \/ 04:30 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Religious freedom advocates applauded a federal appeals court\u2019s decision to hold the government accountable for revising its controversial contraception mandate.<\/p>\n

\tKyle Duncan, general counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, called the decision \u201ca win not just for Belmont Abbey and Wheaton, but for all religious non-profits challenging the mandate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe D.C. Circuit has now made it clear that government promises and press conferences are not enough to protect religious freedom,\u201d he said in a Tuesday statement responding to the ruling.<\/p>\n

\tOn Dec. 18, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals said that it will hold the government responsible for following through on its promises to issue a proposed revision of the federal contraception mandate for objecting religious organizations by March 2013.<\/p>\n

\tThe mandate requires employers to offer health insurance plans that cover sterilization and contraception, including some drugs that may cause early abortions. Exemptions to the mandate were only granted to a small number of religious employers that meet the government\u2019s requirements of existing to teach religious values and primarily hiring and serving members of their own faith.<\/p>\n

\tAfter a wave of protest from non-exempt individuals and organizations, the government announced a one-year \u201csafe harbor\u201d to delay the enforcement of the mandate against objecting non-profit religious groups. It said that it would create an \u201caccommodation\u201d for their religious freedom during this time.<\/p>\n

\tHowever, critics have said that the early suggestions put forth by the Obama administration are inadequate. And while the plan for an accommodation was announced in February, the government has not yet issued its formal proposal with the details of the new rule, and its promise to create one was not legally binding.<\/p>\n

\tMore than 40 lawsuits have been filed against the mandate, drawing split rulings from district courts. Among for-profit businesses that are not protected by the safe harbor period, four out of six have been granted a preliminary injunction blocking the mandate from being enforced against them.<\/p>\n

\tSeveral lawsuits filed by religious non-profit groups \u2013 including Belmont Abbey and Wheaton Colleges \u2013 were dismissed by district courts as premature because of the government\u2019s promise to amend the mandate.<\/p>\n

\tHowever, a federal judge in New York determined on Dec. 6 that a case by the local archdiocese was mature despite the government\u2019s promise, noting, \u201cThere is no \u2018Trust us changes are coming\u2019 clause in the Constitution.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\tIn making its Dec. 18 decision, the appeals court observed that the government had said during oral arguments that it would \u201cnever\u201d enforce the mandate in its current form against morally objecting religious institutions.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThere will, the government said, be a different rule for entities like the appellants,\u201d the court noted, \u201cand we take that as a binding commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe judges also pointed to the government\u2019s statement that it would issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the new rule by the end of March 2013 and would publish the Final Rule before August 2013.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe take the government at its word and will hold it to it,\u201d they said, ordering the Obama administration to report back every 60 days on the progress of the accommodation. The colleges\u2019 lawsuit will be postponed during this time.<\/p>\n

\tThe ruling was hailed by supporters of religious freedom around the country.<\/p>\n

\tMaureen Ferguson, senior policy advisor for The Catholic Association, applauded the court for fighting the \u201cdisinformation\u201d surrounding the mandate and showing the serious threat to religious freedom facing religious employers.<\/p>\n

\tCharmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life and a graduate of Wheaton College, called the decision \u201ca first step toward halting the anti-life coercion in the healthcare law.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tDuncan, who argued the case before the appeals court, explained that the decision offers hope to all of the religious plaintiffs throughout the country.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe court is not going to let the government slide by on non-binding promises to fix the problem down the road,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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

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

Washington D.C., Dec 19, 2012 \/ 04:30 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Religious freedom advocates applauded a federal appeals court’s decision to hold the government accountable for revising its controversial contraception mandate.<\/p>\n

\tKyle Duncan, general co…<\/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-1876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nDC appeals court rules new contraception rule must be issued<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Washington D.C., Dec 19, 2012 \/ 04:30 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Religious freedom advocates applauded a federal appeals court’s decision to hold the government accountable for revising its controversial contraception mandate. 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