{"id":12389,"date":"2012-12-19T14:15:24","date_gmt":"2012-12-19T19:15:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/?p=12389"},"modified":"2017-01-24T17:53:23","modified_gmt":"2017-01-24T22:53:23","slug":"christmas-comes-early-for-religious-colleges-fighting-hhs-mandate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yimcatholic\/2012\/12\/christmas-comes-early-for-religious-colleges-fighting-hhs-mandate.html","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Comes Early For Religious Colleges Fighting HHS Mandate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

While crickets are chirping from purveyors of important news, here\u2019s the scoop on another victory against the HHS contraceptive mandate \u00a0in court yesterday. \u00a0The Becket Fund shares,<\/p>\n

Today, a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C.\u00a0handed Wheaton College and Belmont Abbey College a major victory<\/a>\u00a0in their challenges to the HHS mandate.\u00a0 Last summer, two lower courts had dismissed the Colleges\u2019 cases as premature.\u00a0 Today, the appellate court reinstated those cases, and ordered the Obama Administration to report back every 60 days\u2014starting in mid-February\u2014until the Administration makes good on its promise to issue a new rule that protects the Colleges\u2019 religious freedom.\u00a0 The new rule must be issued by March 31, 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe D.C. Circuit has now made it clear that government promises and press conferences are not enough to protect religious freedom,\u201d said\u00a0Kyle Duncan, General Counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty<\/strong>, who argued the case.\u00a0 \u201cThe court is not going to let the government slide by on non-binding promises to fix the problem down the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The court based its decision on two concessions that government lawyers made in open court. First, the government promised \u201cit would\u00a0never\u00a0<\/em>enforce [the mandate] in its current form\u201d against Wheaton, Belmont Abbey or other similarly situated religious groups.\u00a0 Second, the government promised it would publish a proposed new rule \u201cin the first quarter of 2013\u201d and would finalize it by next August. The administration made both concessions under intense questioning by the appellate judges.\u00a0 The court deemed the concessions a \u201cbinding commitment\u201d and has retained jurisdiction over the case to ensure the government follows through.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a win not just for Belmont Abbey and Wheaton, but for all religious non-profits challenging the mandate,\u201d\u00a0said Duncan.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cThe government has now been forced to promise that it will\u00a0never<\/em>\u00a0enforce the current mandate against religious employers like Wheaton and Belmont Abbey and a federal appellate court will hold the government to its word.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Huzzah! Never enforcing the HHS Mandate? Sounds to me like the HHS Mandate has hit a shoal and is taking on water. Scrapping it and moving on to less dangerous waters would be a good idea. Does the Administration really want to drive religious orders like The Little Sisters of the Poor off shore<\/a>?<\/p>\n

As Joel Gehrke of the Washington Examiner<\/em><\/a> notes,<\/p>\n

They ruled that the Obama administration must rewrite the regulation by August 2013 and provide updates to the court every 60 days. If the government fails to do so, the lawsuits may proceed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The court also noted that the Obama administration had not made such an expansive pledge outside the courtroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe D.C. Circuit has now made it clear that government promises and press conferences are not enough to protect religious freedom,\u201d The Becket Fund\u2019s Kyle Duncan, who argued the case, said in a statement.\u00a0 \u201cThe court is not going to let the government slide by on non-binding promises to fix the problem down the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yesterday\u2019s ruling marks the second time in two weeks that a judge has decided that Obama\u2019s promise to change the rule eventually is an insufficient remedy to the religious liberty issues raised by opponents of the mandate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no, \u2018Trust us, changes are coming\u2019 clause in the Constitution,\u201d Judge Brian Cogan\u00a0wrote in his ruling in favor of the Archdiocese of New York two weeks ago<\/a>. \u201cTo the contrary, the Bill of Rights itself, and the First Amendment in particular, reflect a degree of skepticism towards governmental self-restraint and self-correction.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I remember when Judge Cogan said that<\/a>. Here\u2019s praying that it is a sign of what\u2019s to come.<\/p>\n

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

While crickets are chirping from purveyors of important news, here\u2019s the scoop on another victory against the HHS contraceptive mandate \u00a0in court yesterday. \u00a0The Becket Fund shares,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,41,37],"tags":[418,769,148,31,102,770],"class_list":["post-12389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-living","category-praying","category-working","tag-becket-fund","tag-belmont-abbey-college","tag-hhs-mandate","tag-in-the-news","tag-politics","tag-wheaton-college"],"yoast_head":"\nChristmas Comes Early For Religious Colleges Fighting HHS Mandate<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While crickets are chirping from purveyors of important news, here's the scoop on another victory against the HHS contraceptive mandate \u00a0in court\" \/>\n<meta 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