Tag Archives: ADF: Matthew S. Bowman

Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman will be available for media interviews Wednesday immediately following his oral argument at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit on behalf of an Indiana-based job provider challenging the Obama administration’s abortion pill mandate.

Matt Bowman appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Show to provide an update. | MP3 audio 5:13 mins

The New American: “Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book that they publish,” said Bowman. “The government dismissed its appeal because it knows how ridiculous it sounds arguing that a Bible publisher isn’t religious enough to qualify as a religious employer. For the government to say that a Bible publisher isn’t religious is outrageous, and now the Obama administration has had to retreat in court.”

Womenenews via Reuters: On May 22, the Alliance Defending Freedom, a nonprofit center based in Scottsdale, Ariz., is hoping that the 7th Court of Appeals in Chicago will issue an injunction so its client, Grote Industries, won’t be subjected to fines for not providing the contraceptive coverage required by law since Jan. 1. (newly added to Reuters)

Womensenews.org: “Nonprofit centers like ours that depend on donations are representing these small businesses pro bono because in addition to the fines, the cost of lawyers, travel and other expenses in pursuing these cases would wipe out the assets that took generations for the owners of these small businesses to accumulate,” said Matt Bowman, senior legal counsel of the Alliance Defending Freedom, in a phone interview. His group has 44 in-house attorneys and more than 2,400 volunteer attorneys.

Warren Richey of Christian Science Monitor at MinnPost: Matt Bowman, lead counsel for Tyndale House, claimed victory on Monday when word of the court’s action circulated. “Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book that they publish,” he said in a statement. “The government dismissed its appeal because it knows how ridiculous it sounds arguing that a Bible publisher isn’t religious enough to qualify as a religious employer.”

Michael Foust of BP on Christian Examiner: The legal group Alliance Defending Freedom says the government’s desire to withdraw its own appeal is a good sign for religious liberty. ADF is representing Tyndale. “Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book that they publish,” said ADF senior legal counsel Matt Bowman. “The government dismissed its appeal because it knows how ridiculous it sounds arguing that a Bible publisher isn’t religious enough to qualify as a religious employer. For the government to say that a Bible publisher isn’t religious is outrageous, and now the Obama administration has had to retreat in court.”

Examiner.com: “Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book that they publish,” said Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “The government dismissed its appeal because it knows how ridiculous it sounds arguing that a Bible publisher isn’t religious enough to qualify as a religious employer.”

WorldNetDaily: Apparently, ADF said, Obama is nervous “about trying to defend its position that a Bible publisher is not religious enough for a religious exemption to the mandate.” “Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book that they publish,” said Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “The government dismissed its appeal because it knows how ridiculous it sounds arguing that a Bible publisher isn’t religious enough to qualify as a religious employer. For the government to say that a Bible publisher isn’t religious is outrageous, and now the Obama administration has had to retreat in court. “We will continue to argue that the administration cannot disregard the Constitution’s protection of religious freedom for all family business owners and must offer a comprehensive exemption to the mandate,” Bowman added.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “This is a small family business. Many of the employees are part of the family,” said Matt Bowman, attorney for the Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona-based firm representing Seneca. “Yet the government is forcing them to violate their religious beliefs [as] a price of doing business in America.”

Life Site News: Bowman, the senior legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom who represented the plaintiffs in the case, said: “This is a family that provides generous benefits in their business and they want to be free to live according to their faith, but this Obamacare mandate is coercing them to violate their conscience.”

Joe Wolverton, II at The New American: n a statement issued to LifeNews, the attorney from the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing Seneca Hardwood, explained why his organization is taking on the federal government.
Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman told LifeNews: All Americans, including job creators and providers, should be free to live according to their faith rather than be forced into violating their own consciences. The court has done the right thing in issuing an order against the administration’s abortion pill mandate, just as many other courts have done. For the many family-run businesses affected by the mandate, the court stated it well: “the mandate’s requirements impose a substantial burden on their exercise of religion.”

Huffington Post: “This is a family that provides generous benefits in their business and they want to be free to live according to their faith, but this Obamacare mandate is coercing them to violate their conscious,” said Matt Bowman, the senior legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom who represented the plaintiffs in the case.

All Americans, including job creators and providers, should be free to live according to their faith rather than be forced into violating their own consciences. The court has done the right thing in issuing an order against the administration’s abortion pill mandate, just as many other courts have done. For the many family-run businesses affected by the mandate, the court stated it well: ‘the mandate’s requirements impose a substantial burden on their exercise of religion.

LifeNews: Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman responded to the decision. His firm is helping Seneca Hardwood Lumber Co. in its case against the Obama administration. He told LifeNews: “All Americans, including job creators and providers, should be free to live according to their faith rather than be forced into violating their own consciences. The court has done the right thing in issuing an order against the administration’s abortion pill mandate, just as many other courts have done. For the many family-run businesses affected by the mandate, the court stated it well: ‘the mandate’s requirements impose a substantial burden on their exercise of religion.’”

CBN: Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents the two organizations, was pleased with the court’s Seneca ruling. “All Americans, including job creators and providers, should be free to live according to their faith rather than be forced into violating their own consciences,” ADF Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman said.

All Americans, including jobs creators and providers, should be free to live according to their faith rather than be forced into violating their own consciences.

NC Register: Matt Bowman of the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing a number of plaintiffs in HHS cases, also welcomed the proposed legislation. While the Alliance Defending Freedom has argued in court that the federal contraception mandate violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Bowman told the Register that the proposed conscience-rights bill “is more specific; it blocks the administration’s hostility to religion possibly without having to rely on the courts, and it makes court action to protect religious freedom more swift.”

Matt Bowman at Townhall: Democratic consultant Jason Stanford of the Huffington Post thinks he has made a scientific discovery by claiming “birth control doesn’t cause abortions.” And he thinks opponents of ObamaCare’s abortion-pill mandate should throw in the towel.
Apparently Stanford failed to research the definition of “Orwellian.” Stanford actually admits, in a crude way, the central claim of religious believers and pro-life Americans: that an individual human life begins when “the sperm takes the egg out to Bennigan’s and fertilizes it” and that many forms of “contraception” act after that event to “prevent the implantation in the uterus” of the new human being.

Medill Reports Northwestern.edu: Tyndale’s pro bono attorney, Matthew Bowman of Alliance Defending Freedom, believes the for-profit publishing company should be able to advocate on its own behalf. “I think it’s a pattern throughout the Obama administration’s tenure,” he said, “where they are taking large areas of human activity – like healthcare, or education, or business – and saying that because the government wants to control those areas, the government is going to declare that religious freedom does not exist in those areas.” Bowman said he expects the lawsuit to run through the summer, at least. In the meantime, it will be business as usual at Tyndale House. “We’re not going to do anything different than we’ve been doing for many years: continuing to sell Christian-oriented books and Bibles,” Mark Taylor said (includes Tyndale timeline)

Matt Bowman appeared on Stand Up for the Truth | MP3 audio 16:24 mins

Matt Bowman Letter to NY Times: A corporation is simply a group of people acting together. The Supreme Court has ruled many times that corporations can exercise religion. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, signed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, protects “any” exercise of religion. That protection applies when families earn a living in business.

Washington Times: The Obama administration’s rule must be finalized by Aug. 1. “We haven’t had to file anything new, because nothing has really changed,” said Matt Bowman, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing several religious nonprofits and religiously devout corporate owners who have sued over the mandate. He said the lawsuits will continue and likely pick up by August if the exemption is not broadened to cover all religious employers.

Matt Bowman appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss this: Mt. Sinai Ends Forced Abortion-participation Policy. | MP3 audio 11:09 mins

Matt Bowman, Daniel Blomberg on World Radio (2/16)

LifeSiteNews (2/15): “Pro-life medical personnel shouldn’t be forced to participate in abortions, and the new policies and procedures at Mt. Sinai reflect that,” said Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “The hospital seems to have decided to do the right thing and respect the conscience rights of its employees, who are protected by both federal and state law. We will continue to monitor the situation to make sure that the new policy is followed.”

World Mag: “Pro-life medical personnel shouldn’t be forced to participate in abortions, and the new policies and procedures at Mt. Sinai reflect that,” said ADF senior legal counsel Matt Bowman in a statement. “The hospital seems to have decided to do the right thing and respect the conscience rights of its employees, who are protected by both federal and state law.”

Baptist Press (2/15): “Pro-life medical personnel shouldn’t be forced to participate in abortions, and the new policies and procedures at Mt. Sinai reflect that,” said Matt Bowman, senior legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), in a Feb. 12 written statement. “The hospital seems to have decided to do the right thing and respect the conscience rights of its employees, who are protected by both federal and state law.”

One News Now: ADF attorney Matt Bowman tells OneNewsNow that pro-life personnel should not be forced to assist abortions. “The hospital seems to have decided to do the right thing — to respect the freedom of conscience of employees — because these employees are protected by both federal and state law in their freedom not to assist abortions,” he explains. Bowman adds that Mt. Sinai had known of DeCarlo’s religious objections since 2004.

LifeNews: “Pro-life medical personnel shouldn’t be forced to participate in abortions, and the new policies and procedures at Mt. Sinai reflect that,” said Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “The hospital seems to have decided to do the right thing and respect the conscience rights of its employees, who are protected by both federal and state law. We will continue to monitor the situation to make sure that the new policy is followed.”

Matt Bowman at the Daily Caller: In early 1912, the ship that “God Himself couldn’t sink” met a watery grave. And in 2012, President Obama decided to pit his titanic Obamacare against God’s people and their religious freedoms. His ship is taking on water fast.

Matt Bowman at Alliance Defending Freedom Blog: The Obama administration is engaging in snake-oil moral theology, and then imposing its moral views on any religious entity that disagrees. No one should be forced by the government to facilitate early abortions and anti-fertility activities, under any rationale.

Matt Bowman on the Don Kroah Show, WAVA Radio to discuss: Obama Admin.’s Narrow Gesture On Abortion Pill Mandate Falls Short. | MP3 audio 11:20 mins

Alan Sears at Alliance Defending Freedom Blog: Two crucial decisions last week by federal courts solidified the legal case Alliance Defending Freedom is making on behalf of a broad cross-section of Christians opposed to the ObamaCare abortion pill mandate.
These are important early-round decisions in an epic legal battle that has enormous implications for you, your family, and for every Christian employer in the country.

Florida Baptist Witness: Alliance Defending Freedom senior legal counsel Matt Bowman said the proposal still infringes on religious liberty. “Religious non-profits will, in fact, be forced to provide an insurance plan with a provider that gives the religious group’s employees abortion-pill coverage in direct connection with that plan, the coverage is definitely not free, and the coverage is imposed ‘automatically’ even against the objection of many employees who don’t want free abortion-pill coverage for themselves or their daughters,” Bowman said.

Michael Foust at Baptist Press: Lind is represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom. “Americans have the God-given freedom to live and do business according to their faith,” said Alliance Defending Freedom senior legal counsel Matt Bowman. “Honoring God is not just important within the four walls of a church; it is important every day, in all areas of life, including in our work. Freedom is not the government’s to give and take away when it pleases. The court did the right thing in issuing its order, and we are confident that this unconstitutional mandate’s days are numbered.”

Michael Foust of BP News on the Christian Examiner: Alliance Defending Freedom senior legal counsel Matt Bowman said the proposal still infringes on religious liberty. “Religious non-profits will, in fact, be forced to provide an insurance plan with a provider that gives the religious group’s employees abortion-pill coverage in direct connection with that plan, the coverage is definitely not free, and the coverage is imposed ‘automatically’ even against the objection of many employees who don’t want free abortion-pill coverage for themselves or their daughters,” Bowman said.

David Bohon at the New American: Matt Bowman of Alliance Defending Freedom, another conservative legal group representing several Christian non-profits and businesses in suits against the mandate, said the federal government “has no business putting religious freedom on the negotiating table, or picking and choosing who is allowed to exercise faith. The administration must immediately abandon the idea that it has the power to withhold or dispense our fundamental freedoms to whomever it chooses. The mandate is losing in court. The only acceptable solution is for the administration to obey the Constitution and its legal duty to protect religious freedom.”

CBN: The government has no business putting religious freedom on the negotiating table, or picking and choosing who is allowed to exercise faith,” said Matt Bowman of Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal ministry also involved in numerous legal battles against the mandate. “The administration must immediately abandon the idea that it has the power to withhold or dispense our fundamental freedoms to whomever it chooses. The mandate is losing in court. The only acceptable solution is for the administration to obey the Constitution and its legal duty to protect religious freedom.” Complete statement.

KOSU: “The administration’s narrow gesture does nothing to protect many faith-based employers or religious families from the unconstitutional abortion pill mandate,” says Matt Bowman of the Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal group backing some of the suits. “The government has no business putting religious freedom on the negotiating table, or picking and choosing who is allowed to exercise faith.”

Catholic World Report: Matt Bowman, legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, argues at Catholic Vote that Catholic institutions—such as hospitals and universities—are not exempt from providing contraception coverage under the proposed regulations, although churches and religious orders are.

The New American: Matt Bowman of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the conservative legal advocacy group that is representing Grote, applauded the ruling. “Americans have the God-given freedom to live and do business according to their faith,” he said in a statement. “Forcing employers to surrender their faith in order to earn a living is unprecedented, unnecessary, and unconstitutional. Honoring God is important every day, in all areas of life, including in our work. Freedom is not the government’s to give and take away when it pleases.” He added that the ADF is “pleased that the court delivered the Obama administration a reminder of this foundational truth, and we are confident that this unconstitutional mandate’s days are numbered.” According to a mandate lawsuit “scorecard” created by the ADF, the Obama administration has not fared well in preliminary federal court rulings.

Christian Post: “All Americans, not just those in church organizations, are guaranteed freedom of conscience in their daily lives and work,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “The administration’s narrow gesture does nothing to protect many faith-based employers or religious families from the unconstitutional abortion pill mandate. The government has no business putting religious freedom on the negotiating table, or picking and choosing who is allowed to exercise faith.”

Ken Klukowski at Breitbart: The lead lawyer on the case, Matt Bowman from the Alliance Defending Freedom, said: Americans have the God-given freedom to live and do business according to their faith. Forcing employers to surrender their faith in order to earn a living is unprecedented, unnecessary, and unconstitutional. Honoring God is important every day, in all areas of life, including in our work. Freedom is not the government’s to give and take away when it pleases.

Naple News: “All Americans, not just those in church organizations, are guaranteed freedom of conscience in their daily lives and work,” said Matt Bowman, legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, which has filed lawsuits on behalf of family-based companies.

Michael Foust at Baptist Press: Alliance Defending Freedom senior legal counsel Matt Bowman said the proposal still infringes on religious liberty. “Religious non-profits will, in fact, be forced to provide an insurance plan with a provider that gives the religious group’s employees abortion-pill coverage in direct connection with that plan, the coverage is definitely not free, and the coverage is imposed ‘automatically’ even against the objection of many employees who don’t want free abortion-pill coverage for themselves or their daughters,” Bowman said.

NPR: “The administration’s narrow gesture does nothing to protect many faith-based employers or religious families from the unconstitutional abortion pill mandate,” says Matt Bowman of the Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal group backing some of the suits. “The government has no business putting religious freedom on the negotiating table, or picking and choosing who is allowed to exercise faith.”

Heritage Foundation: As the Alliance Defending Freedom rightly noted last summer, the Administration’s idea of accommodation “creates a federally imposed religious caste system.” The same holds true for today’s announcement. Again, only the precious few who are deemed religious enough by the Administration would be afforded true protection of their religious freedom and ability to live and act in accordance with their beliefs.

LA Times: But a religious-rights group that represents employers said the new proposal does not go far enough. “All Americans, not just those in church organizations, are guaranteed freedom of conscience in their daily lives and work,” said Matt Bowman, legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, which has filed lawsuits on behalf of family-based companies.

USA Today: Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian group that advocates prayers at public meetings and crosses on public land, called the rule an “abortion pill mandate.” “The administration’s narrow gesture does nothing to protect many faith-based employers or religious families from the unconstitutional abortion pill mandate,” said senior legal counsel Matt Bowman. “The government has no business putting religious freedom on the negotiating table, or picking and choosing who is allowed to exercise faith.” Bowman refers to the “morning-after pill,” or Plan B, available as an over-the-counter pill for adult women that prevents pregnancy up to three days after unprotected sex, or Ella, a prescription-only pill that prevents pregnancy up to five days after unprotected sex.

Washington Times: The Alliance Defending Freedom, a self-described “legal ministry” that is litigating several of the corporate cases, said Mr. Obama’s gesture on Friday fell short. “All Americans, not just those in church organizations, are guaranteed freedom of conscience in their daily lives and work,” ADF senior counsel Matt Bowman said. “The administration’s narrow gesture does nothing to protect many faith-based employers or religious families from the unconstitutional abortion pill mandate.”

RNS: Kyle Duncan, general counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which has represented a range of religious institutions and business owners in court challenges to the mandate, called the proposed changes “radically inadequate” and “extremely disappointing.” Matt Bowman, senior legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, said: “The administration’s narrow gesture does nothing to protect many faith-based employers or religious families from the unconstitutional abortion pill mandate. The government has no business putting religious freedom on the negotiating table, or picking and choosing who is allowed to exercise faith.”

World Magazine: Alliance Defending Freedom’s Matt Bowman, a lawyer handling a number of the cases against the mandate, described the proposed “accommodation” as an “accounting gimmick.” He said it was “insulting to the intelligence—and the freedom that religious employers receive under the law.”

Christianity Today: “The government has taken the first step to reveal its plan, and its plan is to pick and choose who’s allowed to exercise faith and to limit full religious freedom,” said Matt Bowman, senior legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom.

Salon: The Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative religious liberty group which is representing several for-profit businesses in lawsuits over the regulation, said it would continue to press for exemptions for business owners in court. So far, about 10 businesses have obtained temporary injunctions against the regulation while their cases move through the courts.

Daily Mail: One of the dissenting organizations, the Alliance Defending Freedom, said in a statement that the administration’s offer was ‘narrow’ and failed ‘to protect many faith-based employers or religious families from the unconstitutional abortion pill mandate.’ Matt Bowman, the senior legal counsel for the alliance, which identifies itself as a ‘legal ministry’ that has filed multiple lawsuits against the requirement, stated that the government had no right ‘picking and choosing who is allowed to exercise faith.’ ‘The mandate is losing in court,’ Bowman stated. ‘The only acceptable solution is for the administration to obey the Constitution and its legal duty to protect religious freedom.’

“All Americans, not just those in church organizations, are guaranteed freedom of conscience in their daily lives and work. The administration’s narrow gesture does nothing to protect many faith-based employers or religious families from the unconstitutional abortion pill mandate. The government has no business putting religious freedom on the negotiating table, or picking and choosing who is allowed to exercise faith.”

Christian Post: “Americans have the God-given freedom to live and do business according to their faith,” Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman said in an email to The Christian Post. “Forcing employers to surrender their faith in order to earn a living is unprecedented, unnecessary, and unconstitutional. Honoring God is important every day, in all areas of life, including in our work. Freedom is not the government’s to give and take away when it pleases. We are pleased that the court delivered the Obama administration a reminder of this foundational truth, and we are confident that this unconstitutional mandate’s days are numbered.”

“Americans have the God-given freedom to live and do business according to their faith. Honoring God is not just important within the four walls of a church; it is important every day, in all areas of life, including in our work. Freedom is not the government’s to give and take away when it pleases. The court did the right thing in issuing its order, and we are confident that this unconstitutional mandate’s days are numbered.”

Christianity Today: Matt Bowman, general counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, agrees. The ‘corporate veil’ is not a ‘moral veil.’ It’s a limited legal veil,” he said. “A mandate on [a family's] business is a moral requirement for them personally.That has no implication on the legal liability that is limited in a corporate form.”

Denver Post via Google News / PressDisplay.com: The Alliance Defending Freedom has brought a caseonbehalf of Hercules Industries, a Denver-based company that makes sheet-metal products. It was granted an injunction by a judge in Colorado who said the religious values of the family ownerswere infringed by the law. “Two-thirds of the cases have had injunctions against Obamacare, and most are headed to courts of appeals,” said Matt Bowman, senior legal counsel for the alliance. “It is clear that a substantial number of these cases will vindicate religious freedom over Obamacare. But it seems likely that the Supreme Court will ultimately resolve the dispute.”

LifeNews: “Americans have the God-given freedom to live and do business according to their faith. Forcing employers to surrender their faith in order to earn a living is unprecedented, unnecessary, and unconstitutional,” Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman told LifeNews. “Honoring God is important every day, in all areas of life, including in our work. Freedom is not the government’s to give and take away when it pleases. We are pleased that the court delivered the Obama administration a reminder of this foundational truth, and we are confident that this unconstitutional mandate’s days are numbered.”

Michael Foust of Baptist Press at Christian Examiner: Alliance Defending Freedom is representing Grote. “Americans have the God-given freedom to live and do business according to their faith,” ADF attorney Matt Bowman said in a statement. “Forcing employers to surrender their faith in order to earn a living is unprecedented, unnecessary, and unconstitutional. Honoring God is important every day, in all areas of life, including in our work. Freedom is not the government’s to give and take away when it pleases.”

“Americans have the God-given freedom to live and do business according to their faith. Forcing employers to surrender their faith in Aorder to earn a living is unprecedented, unnecessary, and unconstitutional. Honoring God is important every day, in all areas of life, including in our work. Freedom is not the government’s to give and take away when it pleases. We are pleased that the court delivered the Obama administration a reminder of this foundational truth, and we are confident that this unconstitutional mandate’s days are numbered.”

Matt Bowman of the Alliance Defending Freedom and Emaily Hardman of the Becket Fund apeared on Breakpoint with John Stonestreet. | MP3 audio 25:26 mins

NY Times: The Alliance Defending Freedom — like Becket, a conservative group — has brought a case on behalf of Hercules Industries, a company in Denver that makes sheet metal products. It was granted an injunction by a judge in Colorado who said the religious values of the family owners were infringed by the law. “Two-thirds of the cases have had injunctions against Obamacare, and most are headed to courts of appeals,” said Matt Bowman, senior legal counsel for the alliance. “It is clear that a substantial number of these cases will vindicate religious freedom over Obamacare. But it seems likely that the Supreme Court will ultimately resolve the dispute.”

LifeNews: “Every American, including family business owners, should be free to live and do business according to their faith,” says ADF lead counsel Matt Bowman. Bowman told LifeNews: “The cost of religious freedom for this family could be millions of dollars per year in fines that would cripple their business and potentially destroy jobs if the administration ultimately has its way. In appealing the district court’s order that halted the mandate against Hercules, the administration sent a clear message that it wants to force families to abandon their faith in order to earn a living. That’s the opposite of religious freedom.”

Matt Bowman on the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss the Sioux Chief Manufacturing suit and others. | MP3 audio 5:23 mins

Christian Post: Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book that they publish. Regrettably, the administration does not want religious freedom to stand in the way of imposing ObamaCare,” Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman commented in an email to The Christian Post.

Christian Post:
“Americans should be free to honor God and abide by their consciences at work, home, and church,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “Washington politicians can’t confine our faith to the four walls of our homes and churches alone. Honoring God is important every day, in all areas of life, including in our work. The Obama administration’s attacks on faith and business prove that it doesn’t respect either one.”. . . “It is quite a challenge to keep track of the large and growing number of legal challenges to the HHS contraceptive/abortifacient mandate,” ADF Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor states in the group’s scorecard post on its website. “Religious organizations, for-profit businesses, and individuals have filed over 40 cases, attempting to protect their deeply held religious beliefs and exercise from the unconstitutional dictates of the federal government.”

LifeNews: Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman emailed LifeNews regarding the decision of the Obama administration Tuesday to continue trying to force the Bible publisher to act contrary to its religious beliefs in Tyndale House Publishers v. Sebelius: “Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book that they publish. Regrettably, the administration does not want religious freedom to stand in the way of imposing ObamaCare. The district court rightly halted ObamaCare’s abortion pill mandate against Tyndale House, but the administration continues to argue that a Bible publisher isn’t religious enough to qualify as a religious employer. For the government to say that a Bible publisher isn’t religious is startling. We will continue to argue on appeal that the administration cannot disregard the Constitution’s protection of religious freedom to achieve certain political purposes.”

Bloomberg: Tyndale argues the law violates the religious freedoms of the company and its owners, “who are committed to biblical principles including the belief that all human beings are created in the image and likeness of God from the moment of their conception.” “It’s disturbing that the government would appeal in order to argue that a Bible publisher is not religious,” Matthew Bowman, a lawyer from Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents Tyndale and other businesses challenging the health care law.

Business Week: “It’s disturbing that the government would appeal in order to argue that a Bible publisher is not religious,” Matthew Bowman, a lawyer from Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents Tyndale and other businesses challenging the health care law.

One News Now: Matt Bowman, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, says the government should not force Tyndale House Publishers to violate its Christian beliefs — and that it should be eligible for a religious exemption from providing contraceptives it believes cause abortion. “What [the administration is] doing in this appeal is they are arguing that Bible publishers are not even free to do business according to the book that they publish,” says the attorney. “The administration is arguing that a Bible publisher isn’t even religious enough to qualify as a religious employer.” [more]

“For the government to say that a Bible publisher isn’t religious is startling. We will continue to argue on appeal that the administration cannot disregard the Constitution’s protection of religious freedom to achieve certain political purposes.”