{"id":679,"date":"2012-02-20T16:19:42","date_gmt":"2012-02-21T00:19:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=679"},"modified":"2018-03-05T21:50:31","modified_gmt":"2018-03-06T05:50:31","slug":"adf-louisiana-college-challenge-obama-mandate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=679","title":{"rendered":"ADF, Louisiana College challenge Obama mandate"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEWS RELEASE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alliance Defence\u00a0 Fund<\/a><\/p>\n

ALEXANDRIA, La. <\/strong>\u2014 Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a federal lawsuit<\/a> on behalf of Louisiana College Saturday against the Obama administration. The lawsuit challenges the administration\u2019s unconstitutional mandate that religious employers provide abortifacients, sterilization, and contraception at no cost to employees regardless of religious or moral objections.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople of faith shouldn\u2019t be punished by the government for following their beliefs when making decisions for themselves or their organizations,\u201d said ADF Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot. \u201cThe Obama administration invented a fake \u2018right\u2019 to get \u2018free\u2019 abortion pills and sterilization and elevated it above real freedoms protected by the First Amendment. This calculated and intentional attempt to eradicate constitutional protections should terrify every freedom-loving American.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Obama administration has purposely transformed a non-existent problem–access to contraception–into a constitutional crisis,\u201d said ADF-allied attorney and co-counsel Mike Johnson, dean of Louisiana College\u2019s Pressler School of Law. \u201cThis mandate offers no choice; Americans either comply and abandon their convictions or resist and be punished.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attorney sound bites:<\/strong> Kevin Theriot<\/a> | Mike Johnson<\/a><\/p>\n

President Obama held a press conference on Feb. 10 to offer a \u201ccompromise\u201d under which some religious non-profit organizations would not have to comply with the mandate. Instead, the employer\u2019s insurer would be required to offer the employer\u2019s employees the same coverage at no charge. The \u201ccompromise,\u201d however, does not exist in the rules or guidance Obama issued on Feb. 10, and the administration is not required to formally propose it.<\/p>\n

Theriot explained that even if the proposed change did exist and had coherent boundaries, it would still require the employer to facilitate coverage by providing and paying for an objectionable plan, the costs of which would be passed on to the employers and\/or employees via premiums.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe time for silence is over,\u201d said Louisiana College President Dr. Joe W. Aguillard. \u201cLouisiana College will not sit by and allow this or any government to usurp our God-given religious freedoms and our time-honored Baptist heritage.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Louisiana College v. Sebelius<\/em>, argues that the mandate violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act as well as the First and Fifth amendments to the U.S. Constitution.<\/p>\n