Tag Archives: ADF: Matthew S. Bowman

Catholic Culture: In arguing against a firm’s attempt to block application of the HHS mandate, lawyers for the Department of Justice stated that “for-profit, secular employers generally do not engage in any exercise of religion protected by the First Amendment.” . . . “A secular entity by definition does not practice religion,” the Obama administration had argued in its filing. “The Newlands nonetheless claim that the regulations substantially burden their religious exercise because the regulations may require the group health plan sponsored by their secular company to provide health insurance that includes contraceptive coverage.”

Denver Post: “The principle decided here is applicable to all of the cases raising the issue of can the government justify forcing people to choose between their faith, and engaging in business or serving the community,” said Matt Bowman, legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, a coalition of Christian lawyers.

Jane Norton at the Denver Post: Fortunately, a court just issued the first-ever order against Obama’s mandate, preventing it from being applied to the Newland family while their lawsuit, filed by their attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom, goes forward. And we’d all better hope the Newlands prevail in the end. (Jane Norton was lieutenant governor of Colorado from 2003 to 2007. Her husband, Michael Norton, is a member of the legal team representing Hercules Industries.) [Jane was also a regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from 1988-1993 for six states, including Colorado.]

CNSNews: Gary Marx, executive director of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, praised a federal judge in Colorado for issuing a temporary injunction on Friday, stopping the Obama administration from enforcing the regulation against Hercules Industries, a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning business owned by a Catholic family. “Confidence in the system and hope for religious liberty was mildly restored when a federal district judge issued a temporary injunction blocking Barack Obama’s health care mandate from compelling a business to provide insurance coverage of sterilization, contraception, and abortion-inducing drugs,” Marx said. [see also powerful Brent Bozell III quote]

Paul Newland and Matt Bowman appear in the Fox News video interview here.

Matt Bowman appeared on the radio to discuss the Newland ruling. | Drew Mariani Show, MP3 audio 16:40 mins | Al Kresta in the Afternoon Show, MP3 audio 11:49 mins | News and Views with Chuck Bates, MP3 audio 13:08 mins

NC Register: “We’re very pleased the judge recognized that religious freedom applies to families and their activities in business and that a mandate that violates religious freedom cannot be imposed against faithful Christian believers,” said Matt Bowman, legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, a coalition of Christian attorneys. Alliance Defending Freedom was formerly called the Alliance Defense Fund.

Catholic Online (includes video): As the August 1, 2012 date for the initial implementation requirements of the HHS mandate drew near, the Alliance Defending Freedom (formerly Alliance Defense Fund) issued an opinion advising Catholic Colleges and other Church related institutions of the a “temporary one year safe harbor” which could delay the consequences of their non-compliance for one year . . . However, the Alliance Defending Freedom was doing more than just helping Colleges and other organizations delay the punitive effects of this mandate. They were busy on another front, showing themselves to be outstanding religious liberty lawyers.

NRLC News: Every American, including family business owners, should be free to live and do business according to their faith. For the time being, Hercules Industries will be able to do just that,” said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “The cost of freedom for this family could be millions of dollars per year in fines that will cripple their business if the Obama administration ultimately has its way. This lawsuit seeks to ensure that Washington bureaucrats cannot force families to abandon their faith just to earn a living. Americans don’t want politicians and bureaucrats deciding what faith is, who the faithful are, and where and how that faith may be lived out.”

Matt Bowman on the Ladona Harvey Show on KOGO FM 95.7 to discuss the Newland case.  | MP3 audio 8:42 mins

Newsmax: In its brief responding to the Justice Department on behalf of the Newland family, the Alliance Defending Freedom said, according to CNSNews.com, “The government argues that the Newlands forfeited their right to religious liberty as soon as they endeavored to earn their living by running a corporation.” “Nothing in the Constitution, the Supreme Court’s decisions, or federal law requires — or even suggests — that families forfeit their religious liberty protection when they try to earn a living, such as by operating a corporate business,” they argued.

Reuters: “Every American, including family business owners, should be free to live and do business according to their faith,” Matthew Bowman, a lawyer for Hercules with the Alliance Defense Fund, said in a statement.

Michael Foust at Baptist Press: The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is representing the company. “This lawsuit seeks to ensure that Washington bureaucrats cannot force families to abandon their faith just to earn a living,” ADF attorney Matt Bowman said in a statement. “Americans don’t want politicians and bureaucrats deciding what faith is, who the faithful are, and where and how that faith may be lived out.”

Wall Street Journal (via Google): What’s significant about Friday’s decision is that it opens an avenue for nonreligious employers to challenge the requirement . . . The decision by Judge Kane only applies to the heating-and-cooling company. But other small businesses could apply for similar relief, said Matt Bowman, a lawyer for Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented the Newlands in the case. Mr. Bowman also said that the decision would boost other challenges to the contraception provisions. Religious universities and charities, including the University of Notre Dame, have also sued the administration over the requirements. The Obama administration has said it will work with Catholic-affiliated institutions to try to reach a compromise, prompting two judges to toss out those cases. “Right now, the first judge to rule on the merits of religious freedom ruled that religious freedom is more important than government mandates,” said Mr. Bowman.

Ken Kuklowski at Breitbart: On August 1, Obamacare’s latest outrage goes into effect as the “HHS Mandate” takes effect, and the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) just scored the first victory in religious liberty against this authoritarian decree days before its implementation . . . This victory is by no means final, but it’s the first of its kind. As ADF’s lawyer on this case, Matt Bowman, said today, “Every American, including family business owners, should be free to live and do business according to their faith. Hercules Industries will be able to do just that.” He’s right, and now we’ll see if the courts continue to agree.

GOPUSA: “This is the very first ruling on whether Obamacare can violate religious freedom and the judge said no,” said Matt Bowman, a lawyer for legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom, formerly known as the Alliance Defense Fund.

The Examiner: “Every American, including family business owners, should be free to live and do business according to their faith. For the time being, Hercules Industries will be able to do just that,” said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman after the decision. Bowman added, “The cost of freedom for this family could be millions of dollars per year in fines that will cripple their business if the Obama administration ultimately has its way. This lawsuit seeks to ensure that Washington bureaucrats cannot force families to abandon their faith just to earn a living. Americans don’t want politicians and bureaucrats deciding what faith is, who the faithful are, and where and how that faith may be lived out.” The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, also a pro-life legal group involved in the case, says the decision could spell the eventual overturning of the mandate itself.

One News Now: Matt Bowman is an attorney with ADF. He says this is the very first ruling on whether Obamacare can violate religious freedom.

Human Events: Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys obtained the first-ever order against the mandate on behalf of Hercules Industries and the Catholic family that owns it. The administration opposed the order, arguing, contrary to the U.S. Constitution, that people of faith forfeit their religious liberty once they engage in business . . . “Every American, including family business owners, should be free to live and do business according to their faith. For the time being, Hercules Industries will be able to do just that,” said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman after the decision. Bowman added, “The cost of freedom for this family could be millions of dollars per year in fines that will cripple their business if the Obama administration ultimately has its way. This lawsuit seeks to ensure that Washington bureaucrats cannot force families to abandon their faith just to earn a living. Americans don’t want politicians and bureaucrats deciding what faith is, who the faithful are, and where and how that faith may be lived out.”

NC Register: The Alliance Defending Freedom legal group sought the injunction as part of its lawsuit on behalf of Hercules Industries, a Colorado-based manufacturer of heating, ventilation and air conditioning units. “We’re thrilled,” said Matt Bowman, legal counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom. “This is the first court to answer the question of whether Obamacare can be used to violate religious freedom, and the answer is ‘No,’” he told Catholic News Agency July 27. “The very first ruling on the question of religious freedom was a ruling stating that religious freedom prevails over government attempts to force believers to choose between their faith and their livelihood,” Bowman said.

Catholic News Agency: We’re thrilled,” said Matt Bowman, legal counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom. “This is the first court to answer the question of whether Obamacare can be used to violate religious freedom, and the answer is ‘no,’” he told CNA July 27. “The very first ruling on the question of religious freedom was a ruling stating that religious freedom prevails over government attempts to force believers to choose between their faith and their livelihood,” Bowman said.

Kathryn Jean Lopez at National Review: Matt Bowman is the legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, and today won an injunction in behalf of the Newland family of Denver, Colo. The Newlands are a Catholic family who run Hercules Industries, a business that distributes air-conditioning, heating, and ventilation supplies and does not provide contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs in its employee health plans. Without the injunction that was issued today by a Jimmy Carter–appointed judge, John Kane, the Department of Health and Human Services mandate requiring that coverage would have gone into effect, forcing them to choose between conscience and following this federal regulation (more here). Bowman explains the significance of the win . . .

Fox News (includes video): “Every American, including family business owners, should be free to live and do business according to their faith. For the time being, Hercules Industries will be able to do just that,” said Matt Bowman, legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, the Arizona-based organization representing the Newlands. “The bottom line is that Congress and the Constitution explicitly protect all religious freedom. They don’t exclude family businesses.” House Speaker John Boehner heralded the court’s ruling. “I join millions of my fellow Americans in welcoming this ruling, which is a major victory in the effort to restore the religious liberty that has been demolished by the Obama administration’s actions this year,” Boehner said.

National Review: America is a country founded on freedom, not on a presumption of government coercion,” Matthew Bowman, the Newlands’ lawyer from the Alliance Defending Freedom tells me. “Religious freedom in America has always included the way people exercise their beliefs Monday through Friday, not just on Sundays and in soup kitchens. If the government succeeds in destroying religious freedom for family businesses, they won’t be able to allow Jesus Christ to reign over their entire lives.” It’s the freedom to be authentically Christian.

National Review: HVAC and the HHS Mandate: Catholic business owners fight for their religious liberty.

The Department of Health and Human Services mandate requiring employers to offer health insurance covering abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception goes into effect on August 1. Matt Bowman, a lawyer for the Alliance Defending Freedom, talks to National Review Online’s Kathryn Jean Lopez about the Newland family in Denver, whose religious liberty he is helping to defend. The Newlands run a company, Hercules Industries, that distributes products for heating and air-conditioning systems. They are asking for an injunction that will protect their constitutional rights as they face the beginning of their new health-care-enrollment year this fall.

Politico Pro (subscription): A Colorado judge is expected to rule Friday on a request from a small business owner to block the Obama administration’s requirement that employers provide insurance coverage of contraceptives . . . He said he would rule on Friday, according to Matt Bowman, an Alliance Defending Freedom lawyer who represented Hercules in court.

Jennifer A. Marshall at the Miami Herald (7/18): Take the Newland family of Denver, who own and operate an HVAC company called Hercules Industries. They happen to be practicing Catholics. A suit on their behalf was filed by the Alliance Defending Freedom (formerly the Alliance Defense Fund, or ADF), seeking a preliminary injunction by Aug. 1 so that the family isn’t forced to violate their religious beliefs as they plan for a new year of health coverage.

LifeNews: Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Matt Bowman will be presenting his oral argument in federal court tomorrow on behalf of a Colorado family business suing the Obama administration over its abortion pill mandate . . . “Every American, including family business owners, should be free to live and do business according to their faith,” said Bowman. “ObamaCare demands that Americans choose between two poison pills: either desert your faith by complying, or resist and be punished. Americans don’t want politicians and bureaucrats deciding what faith is, who the faithful are, and where and how that faith may be lived out. Under the Constitution, the government is charged with safeguarding our freedom, not snuffing out the very freedom it is sworn to protect.”

Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Matt Bowman will be available for media interviews immediately following his oral argument in federal court Wednesday on behalf of a Colorado family business suing the Obama administration over its abortion pill mandate.

NC Register: However, that line of thinking threatens religious freedom by trying to separate the right to worship from the right to order one’s life according to one’s conscience and religious convictions, said Matt Bowman, legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, a coalition of Christian attorneys representing the Newland family. Alliance Defending Freedom was formerly called the Alliance Defense Fund.
“We think, under the law, the federal government is not allowed to force families to abandon their faith just to earn a living, that religious freedom in the First Amendment, as Congress has protected it, is not just for Sundays and soup kitchens. It’s for you to live your daily life, including in business, according to your faith,” Bowman told the Register. In Newland v. Sebelius . . .

KRQE.com: Matt Bowman with the Alliance Defense Fund said women have their rights, but pharmacists also have the right to religious freedom. “One person’s right to do something doesn’t mean they can force other people to help when it violates the other people’s faith,” said Bowman. “Protecting the right of a health care professional’s conscience is part of the right of religious freedom because representing the right of conscience isn’t stopping anyone from getting drugs. They can go elsewhere.”

One News Now (video embedded): ADF attorney Matt Bowman describes the rationale behind the two-minute video. “We’re trying to let people know that what they know about ObamaCare is bad, but what they don’t know is even worse than they thought,” Bowman says. “Politicians and bureaucrats are actually using ObamaCare to coerce American citizens to fund abortion health insurance coverage and ultimately the abortion industry.”

Christian Post: “Everyone likes a good surprise, but no one likes a bad surprise. So, you’re really not going to like the surprises buried in the 2,700 pages of this document,” says the narrator of a short video produced by the Alliance Defense Fund . . . “We wanted to raise awareness that Americans are not subjects. ObamaCare treats Americans as subjects instead of citizens of a free country,” Bowman argued. “There are extremely alarming attacks on religious freedom and sanctity of human life.”

NC Register: Johnson told the Register that the conference initiated the effort to pass an exemption and worked closely with the Alliance Defense Fund — a coalition of Christian attorneys — to compose the bill’s initial draft. The Center for Arizona Policy, a conservative nonprofit, also advised on the bill. “I’m really glad that religious freedom has been expanded in Arizona,” said Matt Bowman, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund who worked on drafting the bill. Bowman told the Register that the new state law “empowers” Arizona residents to challenge the looming federal mandate that all employers, including many religiously affiliated entities such as schools and universities, provide all federally approved forms of birth control by next summer. “When states like Arizona protect the religious freedom of their citizens, they empower those citizens to go into court to protect their fundamental rights. [The law] allows them to sue the federal government and to be able to win,” Bowman said.

Catholic News Agency: Alliance Defense Fund Legal Council Matt Bowman said the mandate, which also forces businesses to provide sterilization and contraception, “unconstitutionally coerces the leadership of Hercules Industries to violate their religious beliefs and consciences under the threat of heavy fines and penalties.” “Every American should know that a government with the power to do this to anyone can do this – and worse – to everyone,” Bowman said in an April 30 statement, announcing the manufacturer’s lawsuit against the administration. “The government shouldn’t punish people of faith for making decisions in accordance with their faith,” commented Bowman. “That is simply not acceptable in America.”

One News Now: “The government shouldn’t punish people of faith for making decisions in accordance with their faith,” contends ADF attorney Matt Bowman. “Every American should know that a government with the power to punish people for their faith can do that, and worse, to everyone. The abortion pill mandate unconstitutionally coerces the leadership of Hercules Industries to violate their religious beliefs and consciences under the threat of heavy fines and penalties.” Bowman concludes “that is not acceptable in America.”

One News Now: “This case is challenging President Obama’s executive order to really ignore the federal law that protects American tax dollars from being used to destroy human embryos and goes ahead and has funded millions and millions of dollars’ worth of destructive research,” Bowman shares.

ADF Attorney Matt Bowman on Word of Truth Radio with Brad Brandon to discuss this: Obama Admin Finalizes Rules: $1 Abortions in ObamaCare. | MP3 audio 9:54 mins

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys will be available for media interviews following oral argument at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in a lawsuit involving a Montgomery County law that forces pro-life pregnancy counselors to advise women against using their services.

Deseret News: The Alliance Defense Fund filed a complaint with HHS, and Vanderbilt quickly backed down. “Christians and other pro-life members of the medical community shouldn’t be forced to participate in abortions to pursue their profession. That’s what federal law says, and that’s why Vanderbilt is doing the right thing in changing its policy and application,” said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman.

ADF Attorney Matt Bowman at LifeNews: Americans across the religious and non-religious spectrum alike have taken umbrage to the President’s demand that they pay for contraceptives and abortion pills for other Americans whether they like it or not. And as a result, they’re banding together to remind the nation that this affront to religious freedom is a fight created not by religious groups, but wholly by the Obama administration.

ADF Attorney Matt Bowman at LifeNews: If you thought the Obama mandate of abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization raised a furor for attacking the rights of conscience our Founding Fathers sought to protect via the First Amendment, you’ll really enjoy what is coming soon. The prestigious Journal of Medical Ethics has just given us a sneak-peek into what ObamaCare will surely be mandating in the not-too-distant future.

National Catholic Register: In response to the failed vote, Alliance Defense Fund’s legal counsel, Matt Bowman, said, “The government cannot tell Americans that certain parts of their faith are not important enough to practice. People of faith are explicitly protected by the Constitution and federal law from such radical state invasions of conscience. The Blunt/Fortenberry Amendment was a necessary measure to begin to restore the religious liberties of Americans that Obamacare has trampled on with its assumption of unlimited bureaucratic power. Every vote for religious freedom should be unanimous, but, tragically, our fundamental freedoms didn’t seem to matter to enough senators.”

National Catholic Register: Reaction also came from Matt Bowman, legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which is fighting the contraception mandate in court. “The government cannot tell Americans that certain parts of their faith are not important enough to practice,” Bowman said in a statement. “People of faith are explicitly protected by the Constitution and federal law from such radical state invasions of conscience. The Blunt/Fortenberry Amendment was a necessary measure to begin to restore the religious liberties of Americans that Obamacare has trampled on with its assumption of unlimited bureaucratic power. Every vote for religious freedom should be unanimous, but, tragically, our fundamental freedoms didn’t seem to matter to enough senators.”

The Blunt/Fortenberry Amendment was a necessary measure to begin to restore the religious liberties of Americans that ObamaCare has trampled on with its assumption of unlimited bureaucratic power. Every vote for religious freedom should be unanimous, but tragically, our fundamental freedoms didn’t seem to matter to enough senators.

ADF Attorney Matt Bowman on the Jim Engster Show WRKF Baton Rouge to discuss the suit. | MP3 audio 50:59 mins

The New American: Matt Bowman, legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), told CNA that the case “illustrates that the federal government’s rule punishes people of faith in all situations, just because they want to make decisions according to their own religious beliefs. In this case you have individuals, Catholic agencies, a religious school, a nun, and a variety of states trying to defend their … right not to have their religious freedom attacked by this federal mandate involving abortion-inducing drugs and other items.”

National Right to Life: Alliance Defense Fund Legal Counsel Matt Bowman told the Catholic News Agency, “The states in this case are doing what the government should do, which is to protect American citizens from the attack on freedom that the federal government, and the people in charge of it at the moment, are waging against religious believers.”

The Boston Pilot: “Insurers are often run by people with religious faith, who should not have to choose between their belief and their participation in our society,” Bowman noted, explaining the importance of Catholic Mutual Group’s involvement in the suit.

Matt Bowman at Townhall (“Ideas Have Consequences and Obama’s Have Bad Ones”): I’m not even talking about the fact that abortion will inevitably be mandated as “preventive care” too, because pregnancy, the president tells us, is a disease. I’m saying that because the government now treats pregnancy as an expensive, autonomously chosen health threat, pregnancy and children are officially worse than the far left’s greatest mortal sin of smoking.

MSNBC: Seven states asked a federal judge Thursday to block an Obama administration mandate that requires birth control coverage for employees of religious-affiliated hospitals, schools and outreach programs.

ADF Attorney Matt Bowman appeared on radio to discuss the Obama Mandate and the college suits . | KFUO Radio, MP3 audio 25:11 mins | The Janet Mefferd Show, MP3 audio 13:46 mins | WRKF Baton Rouge with Jim Enster, MP3 audio 51:02 mins (Matt fields a lot of questions in this broadcast)

TimesOnline: Matt Bowman, an ADF spokesman, predicted many more lawsuits will be filed by those “being forced to violate their core religious beliefs.” “At Geneva College, we have only one Lord, and he does not live in Washington, D.C.,” Geneva President Ken Smith said in a statement. “The First Amendment protects Americans from mandates that require us to act against our own convictions. We find the mandate to provide our faculty, staff and students with insurance that provides pills to abort babies is totally abhorrent and unacceptable.”

WorldMag: “The Obama administration has attempted to negate exiting real protections for religious freedom and it has no authority to do that,” Matt Bowman, an ADF lawyer, told me.

LifeNews.com: In its latest attempt to quell the broiling rebellion against Obamacare’s obliteration of religious freedom, the Administration did, well, what it does. It issued another dissembling, contradictory press statement.

ADF Attorney Matt Bowman appeared on the radio to discuss mandate. | WWIB with Mark Halvorson — MP3 audio 15:55 mins | The Victoria Taft Show — MP3 audio 5:55 mins

Baptist Press: “Pregnancy centers, which offer real help and hope to women, shouldn’t be punished by political allies of the abortion industry,” said Matt Bowman, legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund. “The city should recognize that using a sleight-of-hand to force pro-life centers to post the message the city wants does not solve the First Amendment problems with the law.”

Newsmax: The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and the Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) plan to hold a conference call with the media Tuesday morning, to discuss ADF’s latest report to Congress alleging waste, abuse, and potential fraud by Planned Parenthood. [more]

OneNewsNow.com: “The city should recognize that using sleight of hand to force pro-life centers to post a message the city wants does not solve the First Amendment problems with the law,” says Bowman. “Courts around the country have been striking these types of laws down that target pro-life pregnancy centers.”

LifeNews.com: ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman commented on the law and the lawsuit in remarks to LifeNews.com. “Pro-life pregnancy centers, which freely offer real help and hope to women and their preborn children, shouldn’t be punished by political allies of those who make their money aborting babies,” he said. “This order keeps the city from enforcing a law that is specifically designed to deter pregnant women from receiving the help they need to make fully informed choices about their pregnancy while this lawsuit goes forward. The order also means that the court is likely to find the ordinance unconstitutional.” Bowman noted the court was also critical of the New York Civil Liberties Union’s defense of the city ordinance: “Given the New York Civil Liberties Union’s (“NYCLU”) usual concern for First Amendment rights, its amicus brief supporting Defendant’s expansive view of the commercial speech doctrine is puzzling.”

LifeNews.com: Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund are also part of the lawsuit. “Pregnancy centers, which offer real help and hope to women, shouldn’t be punished by political allies of the abortion industry,” said ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “Attacks such as this ordinance are an ideologically motivated attempt to distract from the growing national scandals in the abortion industry. For years, abortionists have preyed on women and girls to generate profits. Now, pro-abortion politicians are trying to give women fewer choices.”

ADF Attorney Matt Bowman at the Christian Post: In one of the lesser-known manipulations of U.S. law to advance the pro-abortion agenda, the President’s Department of Justice has for several years been availing itself of a statute originally written to stop violence to instead seek massive fines and injunctions against peaceful pro-life advocates who offer alternatives to women on public sidewalks. But this politicization of the law in favor of abortion yielded a mixed record this week.

ADF Attorney Matt Bowman on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss this. | MP3 audio 13:13 mins

Christian Institute: ADF’s Matt Bowman, who represented the nurses, said: “No pro-life medical personnel should be forced to assist or train in services related to abortions. The hospital has finally done the right thing in agreeing to obey the law and not force our clients to do any work on abortion cases in violation of their beliefs”. He added: “The hospital agreed not to penalize our clients in any way because they choose not to participate in abortion according to their legal rights.”

NC Register (12/28): According to the Alliance Defense Fund, which represented the 12 nurses, the terms of the settlement require that if a woman suffers a true emergency from an abortion, the nursse will help protect her until other staff, such as the emergency team, arrives moments later. “Because the abortions are all elective, outpatient surgeries, and the court is requiring the hospital to fully staff all abortion cases with non-objecting medical personnel, the pro-life nurses should never actually be needed in any such case,” the ADF statement said. [more Matt Bowman quoted]

Christian Examiner: “No pro-life medical personnel should be forced to assist or train in services related to abortions. The hospital has finally done the right thing in agreeing to obey the law and not force our clients to do any work on abortion cases in violation of their beliefs,” said ADF legal counsel Matt Bowman. “The hospital agreed not to penalize our clients in any way because they choose not to participate in abortion, according to their legal rights.”

David Bohon The New American: ADF Attorney Matt Bowman, who represented the nurses in the case, recalled that the change in hospital policy had come “out of the blue,” noting that UMDNJ “had been performing abortions for decades without forcing nurses to violate their religious beliefs.” In September hospital officials announced to nurses at the Same Day Surgery Unit that they would now be required to assist with the procedures. The hospital instituted the policy change the following month “and repeatedly threatened that they must assist abortions or be terminated,” Bowman explained. “When one nurse objected to assisting abortions on the grounds of her religious beliefs, a supervisor responded that UMDNJ has ‘no regard for religious beliefs’ of nurses who object to participating in abortions.”

Catholic Culture (12/28): “It is a victory because the hospital finally agreed to obey the law and not force our clients to do any work on abortion cases in violation of their beliefs,” said the nurses’ attorney, Matt Bowman of the Alliance Defense Fund. “The hospital agreed not to penalize our clients in any way because they choose to not help abortions, according to their legal rights. The hospital is required to fully staff all abortion cases so that our clients would never be needed for those cases, and the hospital cannot use pro-abortion staff to replace our clients or reduce their hours.”

National Right to Life News (12/28): Last week I asked the nurses’ lawyer, Matt Bowman of the Alliance Defense Fund, how he would describe the settlement: a “victory” he told National Right to Life News Today. “It is a victory because the hospital finally agreed to obey the law and not force our clients to do any work on abortion cases in violation of their beliefs. The hospital agreed not to penalize our clients in any way because they choose to not help abortions, according to their legal rights. The hospital is required to fully staff all abortion cases so that our clients would never be needed for those cases, and the hospital cannot use pro-abortion staff to replace our clients or reduce their hours. The judge warned the hospital that our clients could return to his court if they were assigned to work abortion cases or if the hospital claims that routine abortions are emergencies. We hope that other hospitals will realize that they should agree to obey conscience laws that protect pro-life medical personnel.”

LifeNews: Officials with the Alliance Defense Fund and Americans United for Life submitted a friend-of-the-court brief to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court supporting the law. “Parents should have a right to be involved in their child’s critical life-changing decisions, and that includes abortions,” ADF Legal Counsel Matt Bowman told LifeNews.com previously. “Secret abortions performed on minors leave children in the hands of a predatory abortion industry that has put profits above parents’ rights and the health and safety of young girls and their preborn children.”

LifeNews: This was indeed a great victory, and the credit goes to twelve brave and principled nurses who stood their ground, and attorney Matt Bowman of the Alliance Defense Fund for his skillful and equally courageous defense of the nurses. There is a fundamental principle at stake here, one that is testing all of our established human anthropology, metaphysics, ethics, and jurisprudence . . . Blessedly, we have principled leaders and warriors today in people like Matt Bowman of the Alliance Defense Fund, Nikolas Nikas and Dorinda Bordleee of the Bioethics Defense Fund, who speak frequently at medical and law schools about conscience rights, and brave medical professionals who are dedicated to upholding the highest estimation of humanity under the law.

LifeSiteNews: We are glad that the hospital finally agreed to obey the law and not force our clients to do any work on abortion cases in violation of their beliefs,” Matt Bowman, the attorney who handled the case for the Alliance Defense Fund, stated in an e-mail statement sent to LifeSiteNews.com. “The hospital agreed not to penalize our clients in any way because they choose to not help abortions according to their legal rights.”

Samantha Henry Salon (AP): “I’m still scared about the part of them having four nurses brought in and we might become the surpluses,” Racpan Vinoya said, referring to the hospital hiring four nurses who do not object to assisting with the procedure. Matt Bowman, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, a coalition of Christian lawyers and organizations that represented the nurses, said they were satisfied with the agreement.

NJ Star Ledger: “The hospital has agreed that pro-life nurses do not have to assist abortion cases,” said Matt Bowman, an attorney with Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based Christian nonprofit group.