CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- In the first legal ruling against the controversial HHS mandate, a federal judge has granted a temporary injunction protecting a Catholic-run business.
\n\t\u00a0
\n\tJudge John L. Kane of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado approved the injunction on the afternoon of July 27.
\n\t\u00a0
\n\tHe said the harm of preventing the government from enforcing Congress-approved regulations \u201cpales in comparison to the possible infringement upon plaintiffs\u2019 constitutional and statutory rights.\u201d
\n\t\u00a0
\n\tThe Alliance Defending Freedom legal group sought the injunction as part of its lawsuit on behalf of Hercules Industries, a Colorado-based manufacturer of heating, ventilation and air conditioning units.
\n\t\u00a0
\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled,\u201d said Matt Bowman, legal counsel with Alliance Defending\u00a0 Freedom.
\n\t\u00a0
\n\t\u201cThis is the first court to answer the question of whether Obamacare can be used to violate religious freedom, and the answer is \u2018no,\u2019\u201d he told CNA July 27.
\n\t\u00a0
\n\t\u201cThe very first ruling on the question of religious freedom was a ruling stating that religious freedom prevails over government attempts to force believers to choose between their faith and their livelihood,\u201d Bowman said.
\n\t\u00a0
\n\tHercules Industries\u2019 owners, William Newland, Paul Newland, James Newland, and Christine Ketterhagen, all identify as practicing Catholics. The mandate would have affected the self-insured company\u2019s health plan when it renews on Nov. 1.<\/p>\n\tUnder the HHS mandate, companies that refuse to comply face fines of $100 per day, per employee. For a company like Hercules Industries, which employs 300 people, those fines could be millions of dollars each year.
\n\t\u00a0
\n\tThe company and its owners challenged the Department of Health and Human Services rule requiring employers\u2019 health plans to cover sterilization, contraception, and abortion-causing drugs as preventive care for women.
\n\t\u00a0
\n\tThe mandate\u2019s narrow religious exemption does not include many Catholic health systems, charities and colleges, despite Catholic objections to covering the procedures and drugs. It also does not apply to secular businesses.
\n\t\u00a0
\n\tBowman said that although the mandate only protects the Newland family and their business, it sets an example for other legal challenges already underway.
\n\t\u00a0
\n\t\u201cEvery judge in these cases is going to look at what other judges said,\u201d Bowman explained.
\n\t\u00a0
\n\t\u201cThe reasoning behind the injunction is that every American, including family business owners, is entitled to practice their faith without the government forcing them to violate their beliefs or face heavy fines or penalties.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tJudge Kane said the government\u2019s arguments against the injunction are \u201ccountered, and indeed outweighed, by the public interest in the free exercise of religion.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tHe cited a Tenth Circuit Court ruling which said that there is a \u201cstrong public interest in the free exercise of religion\u201d even where that interest may conflict with another statutory scheme.<\/p>\n
\tMichael Norton, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, said the lawsuit is \u201cvery important\u201d because it determines \u201cwhether family-owned small businesses have the freedom to practice their faith as they wish in the public square and in the public arena, or whether they will be obliged to offer health insurance coverage that violates that faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cOur view is that every American should be free to live and do business according to their faith. They should not have to choose between their faith and doing what some bureaucrat or politician thinks ought to be the way they live out their faith,\u201d Norton said in a July 26 interview.<\/p>\n
\tTwo lawsuits against the HHS mandate have been dismissed.<\/p>\n
\tOn July 17, a federal judge in Nebraska rejected a suit filed by seven state attorneys general, Catholic groups and two Catholic individuals on the grounds they did not prove immediate harm. On July 18, a federal judge in Washington, D.C. dismissed the suit filed by Belmont Abbey College on the grounds it was premature.<\/p>\n
\tUpdated at 4:09 p.m. MST. Adds details about fines, comments from Judge Kane and Michael Norton, and background on related cases.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
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Denver, Colo., Jul 27, 2012 \/ 03:23 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- In the first legal ruling against the controversial HHS mandate, a federal judge has granted a temporary injunction protecting a Catholic-run business.
\n\t
\n\tJudge John L. Kane of the U.S. Dis…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\n
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