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Washington, DC – Despite political rhetoric to the contrary, ObamaCare will for the first time require employers and individuals to directly fund abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization and contraception. This mandate collides with religious freedom and the rights of conscience.

Vice President Joe Biden’s assessment of ObamaCare’s impact on religious liberties was inaccurate at best and misleading at worst. During the Vice Presidential debate, Biden said, “[L]et me make it absolutely clear. No religious institution—Catholic or otherwise, including Catholic social services, Georgetown hospital, Mercy hospital, any hospital—none has to either refer for contraception, none has to pay for contraception, none has to be a vehicle to get contraception in any insurance policy they provide. That is a fact. That is a fact.”

“This is not a fact,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. “The ObamaCare  mandate requires nearly every religious organization and business owner to provide contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs, despite the fact that this will violate their sincerely held religious beliefs.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops agrees. In a press release issued the day after the Vice Presidential debate, the Conference, composed of all active and retired leaders of the Catholic church, said, “The HHS mandate contains a narrow, four-part exemption for certain ‘religious employers’…[but it] does not extend to ‘Catholic social services, Georgetown hospital, Mercy hospital, any hospital,’ or any other religious charity that offers its services to all, regardless of the faith of those served.”

Liberty Counsel filed the first private suit against ObamaCare on behalf of Liberty University and two individuals on the first day ObamaCare was signed into law. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court directed the federal government to respond to Liberty Counsel’s Petition for Rehearing of Liberty Univ., Inc. v. Geithner, which challenges the individual mandate and the employer insurance mandate and argues that the employer mandate is beyond Congress’s authority and both mandates violate the First Amendment Free Exercise Clause. It is probable that this case will be placed on a fast track to the court of appeals and then on to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Yesterday on Fox News, Mat Staver talked to Shannon Bream about the case: “We asked the Supreme Court to allow us to go back to the court of appeals and address the issues that the Supreme Court has not addressed—the constitutionality of the employer mandate and also the free exercise of religion that applies both to individuals and to employers….That is a collision with Liberty University’s sincerely held religious beliefs.” 

Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.
 

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