WND EXCLUSIVE

OBAMA DEMANDS CONTRACEPTIVE COVERAGE DESPITE 72 COURT LOSSES

8th Circuit disagrees, exempts 2 Christian schools from abortion-pill mandate

Bob Unruh

Reaching the same conclusion as dozens of other courts, the 8th U.S. Circuit of Appeals has freed two Christian schools, Dordt College in Iowa and Cornerstone University in Michigan, from Obamacare’s abortion-pill mandate, because the law creates a burden on religious rights.

But that isn’t stopping the Obama administration from continuing to demand that organizations and companies meet its social agenda requirement.

The newest decision was announced Thursday by the Alliance Defending Freedom, which has been busy handling related cases.

ADF points out the abortion-pill mandate scorecard shows the government losing 72-16 in the courts. But the Obama administration continues to fight for the provision in its health-care legislation that requires employers to provide birth-control coverage, including drugs that cause abortion, which violates the religious beliefs of many employers.

In the latest case, the 8th Circuit ruled the two schools are exempted from the mandate because it burdens their First Amendment religious rights. The court, furthermore, said that even if the government had a “compelling” reason for the requirement, the law does not provide the least intrusive means of accomplishing its aim.

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“In America, faith-based colleges and universities should be free to operate according to the faith they espouse and live out on a daily basis,” said Gregory S. Baylor, a senior counsel for ADF.

“If the administration can punish Christian organizations simply because they want to abide by their faith, there is no limit to what other freedoms it can take away. The 8th Circuit was right to uphold the district court’s order and block enforcement of this unconstitutional mandate.”

The court said that by “coercing Dordt and Cornerstone to participate in the contraceptive mandate and accommodation process under threat of severe monetary penalty, the government has substantially burdened Dordt and Cornerstone’s exercise of religion.”

“Even assuming that the government’s interests in safeguarding public health and ensuring equal access to health care for women are compelling, the contraceptive mandate and accommodation process likely are not the least restrictive means of furthering those interests,” the court said.

Kevin Theroit, another ADF senior counsel, said the government “shouldn’t punish people of faith for making decisions in accordance with their faith.”

“The same applies to these Christian schools, which simply want to abide by the very beliefs they espouse and teach. The Supreme Court upheld that time-honored principle in its Conestoga/Hobby Lobby decision last year.”

ADF said the government has struck out most of the time when it tries to force the issue, which ultimately could be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The group said the mandate is losing 72-16 in courts, including 46-1 when the issue involves a for-profit company. The score is 25-15 in favor of religious non-profits and 1-0 for non-religious non-profits.

Hobby Lobby won a high-profile ruling, and other cases have been brought by Tyndale House Publishers, Ave Maria School of Law, Grote Industries, Midwest Fastener, Sioux Chief Manufacturing and Geneva College.

The cases have come from more than a dozen states where the Obama administration has insisted faith issues should be ignored and its contraceptive mandate adopted.

ADF is representing Southern Nazarene University in a case the legal group believes is headed to the Supreme Court. ADF also is representing an order of nuns in Denver in a case being appealed to the high court.

Obamacare has been to the Supreme Court several times already.

The first time, the justices rewrote the law, turning its financial penalties into “taxes” to make the law comply with the Constitution. The second time up, in the Hobby Lobby case, the high court struck down the mandatory abortion-pill program. The third time, the justices ruled subsidies could be issued to holders of policies purchased from the federal exchange, even though the law states they can be obtained only through policies bought on state exchanges.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/09/obama-demands-contraceptive-coverage-despite-72-court-losses/#ey05Ocbei7O0mJpv.99

My comments: We thank God for the Courts Ruling on this matter. Obama and the Democrats are Ruthless and Relentless in pursuit of FORCING Christians to COMPLY with their godless Agenda. They will Never give up.