U.S. court position 'flawed'

Mo. business appealing ruling against its HHS mandate lawsuit

This Catholic News Agency story reports that a federal district court in Missouri has dismissed a Catholic businessman's lawsuit that contends that the HHS mandate violates his religious freedom. 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.

"Obviously we're disappointed in this judge's 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," Francis J. Manion, senior counsel with the American Center for Law and Justice, told CNA Oct. 1.

The lawsuit was filed March 15 on behalf of Frank R. O'Brien and his 87-employee company O'Brien 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.

The Becket Fund, a religious liberty legal group, says that over 30 federal lawsuits representing over 80 individual and institutional plaintiffs are challenging the HHS mandate.

For full story see The B.C. Catholic website.