Tag Archives: Topic: Conscience

Melissa Steffan at Christianity Today: “The federal government has deemed devout publishers of the Bible to be insufficiently ‘religious’ to enjoy religious freedom in America,” the complaint stated. According to a press release from Alliance Defending Freedom (formerly the Alliance Defense Fund), which is representing Tyndale, “The publisher is subject to the mandate because Obama administration rules say for-profit corporations are categorically non-religious.”

Catholic World News on Catholic Culture: “To say that a Bible publisher is not religious is patently absurd,” said Matt Bowman of the Alliance Defending Freedom. “Tyndale House is a prime example of how ridiculous and arbitrary the Obama administration’s mandate is…. The federal government’s bureaucrats are not qualified to decide what faith is, who the faithful are, and where and how that faith may be lived out.”

WorldNetDaily: “Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book that they publish,” said Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “To say that a Bible publisher is not religious is patently absurd. Tyndale House is a prime example of how ridiculous and arbitrary the Obama administration’s mandate is. Americans today clearly agree with America’s founders: the federal government’s bureaucrats are not qualified to decide what faith is, who the faithful are, and where and how that faith may be lived out.”

Victor Morton at the Washington Times: The Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing Tyndale, called the rule an unconstitutional and arbitrary threat to religious freedom. “Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book that they publish,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “To say that a Bible publisher is not religious is patently absurd. Tyndale House is a prime example of how ridiculous and arbitrary the Obama administration’s mandate is. Americans today clearly agree with America’s founders: the federal government’s bureaucrats are not qualified to decide what faith is, who the faithful are, and where and how that faith may be lived out.”

Examinder.com: In a press release from Alliance Defending Freedom, Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman stated, “Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book that they publish. To say that a Bible publisher is not religious is patently absurd. Tyndale House is a prime example of how ridiculous and arbitrary the Obama administration’s mandate is. Americans today clearly agree with America’s founders: the federal government’s bureaucrats are not qualified to decide what faith is, who the faithful are, and where and how that faith may be lived out.”

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing Tyndale House Publishers filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the Obama administration’s abortion pill mandate. Tyndale House is one of the world’s largest privately held Christian publishers of books, Bibles, and digital media.

ABA Journal: Is the possibility of a new challenge to the health-care law on the horizon? The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday asked the federal government for its views on a rehearing request by a religious university that is challenging the law, SCOTUSblog reports. Liberty University asked the Supreme Court to revive its lawsuit challenging the law in a rehearing request filed in July, Law360 (sub. req.) reported at the time.

Baptist Press: In filing its appeal, the administration sent a clear message that it wants to force families to abandon their faith in order to make a living,” said Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorney Matt Bowman. “That’s the opposite of religious freedom.”

Religion Clause Blog: In O’Brien v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, (ED MO, Sept. 28, 2012), Judge Carol E. Jackson (a President George H. W. Bush appointee) first held that she need not decide whether O’Brien Industrial Holdings (“OIH”), a secular limited liability company, is capable of exercising religion within the meaning of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act or the First Amendment because, even if it is, the contraception coverage mandate does not infringe religious exercise rights.

Biola U. Chimes: Alliance Defending Freedom’s . . . [Greg] Baylor, lead counsel on the case, said Biolans should care about the far-reaching effects of the decision — regardless of the outcome . . . Baylor participated in a panel two weeks ago that provided information to students and faculty on Biola’s decision to sue the government over the Health and Human Services mandate that would require organizations to provide for abortion-inducing drugs under Obamacare . . . With more than 25 different lawsuits filed against the government regarding the HHS mandate, the message is clear: People are unhappy, Baylor said. “I think the sheer volume of the cases is part of message that this is an egregious violation of freedom,” Baylor said. Biola’s lawsuit is one of many and it doesn’t have much to set it apart in any particular way, but the prestige of Biola’s name matters, Baylor said.

Thomas More Law Center: The Government attorney, on the other hand, argued that because Weingartz was a secular corporation it had no constitutional right to free exercise of religion or free speech. The Government also contended that the organization Legatus lacked standing, as the group was a non-profit company potentially eligible for a one year safe-harbor from the law.

SCOTUS Blog reports.

Pottsmer.com: A federal judge has denied a civil rights group’s bid to join the government’s defense against a western Pennsylvania Christian college’s challenge to regulations requiring employers to offer birth control coverage

NRL News: “Every American, including family business owners, should be free to live and do business according to their faith,” said Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “The Obama administration claims ‘unwavering’ support for religious freedom, but this appeal demonstrates that the only thing unwavering is the administration’s tenacious opposition to that freedom.” “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,” Bowman said. “In filing its appeal today, 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.”

Christian Post: “Every American, including family business owners, should be free to live and do business according to their faith,” Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman said in a statement. “The Obama administration claims ‘unwavering’ support for religious freedom, but this appeal demonstrates that the only thing unwavering is the administration’s tenacious opposition to that freedom.”

Citizen Link: “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 had its way,” Bowman said.

LifeNews: 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,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “The Obama administration claims ‘unwavering’ support for religious freedom, but this appeal demonstrates that the only thing unwavering is the administration’s tenacious opposition to that freedom.”

LifeSiteNews: 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,” said Matt Bowman, senior counsel at the Alliance Defending Freedom. “In filing its appeal today, 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.”

CNSNews: The National Catholic Bioethics Center has published an analysis saying that it will be immoral for a Catholic who owns a private business to purchase health insurance for his or her workers under Obamacare

Thomas More Law Center: This Friday, September 28, 2012, Federal District Judge Robert H. Cleland, of the Eastern District of Michigan, will hear oral arguments in Thomas More Law Center’s motion for Preliminary Injunction to stop implementation of the HHS mandate. The oral arguments are scheduled to begin at 9:30am, in Courtroom #712, at the U.S. Courthouse in Detroit, Michigan.

One News Now: Attorney Matt Bowman of Alliance Defending Freedom tells OneNewsNow, “Every American, including family business owners, should be free to live and do business according to their faith.” “The Obama administration claims it has unwavering support for religious freedom, but the only thing unwavering in the administration is its tenacious opposition to religious freedom,” the attorney asserts.

n contradiction to the Obama administration’s recent claims of “unwavering” support for religious freedom, the president’s lawyers filed an appeal Tuesday of a court order that upheld the religious freedom of a Colorado family business.

Acton Institute Blog: It is alarmingly clear that so-called “Obamacare” has troubling implications for parents and children, not just employers with religious convictions regarding artificial birth control and abortion. According to an article in the National Catholic Register, Matt Bowman, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, Obamacare: “tramples parental rights” because it requires them to “pay for and sponsor coverage of abortifacients, sterilization, contraception and education in favor of the same for their own children.” [more]

Catholic News Agency: Matt Bowman, senior counsel for the religious liberty legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, said the mandate “tramples parental rights” because it requires them to “pay for and sponsor coverage of abortifacients, sterilization, contraception and education in favor of the same for their own children.”

LifeSiteNews: Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan gave the HHS mandate its execution date if he is election: “Day one.” The Wisconsin congressman said if he and Mitt Romney are elected in November, the requirement that religious employers, including many religious employers, to provide contraception, sterilization, and abortifacient drugs, “will be gone, I can guarantee you that.”

Barry H. Corey at National Review Bench Memos: With the help of Alliance Defending Freedom, we are making our stand. What’s at stake? Our fundamental freedom to exercise our faith in the context of a community, and to live out the mission to which we’re convinced God has called us.

KBOI2.com (includes video): An Oregon couple says they were told their wedding wouldn’t be “a good fit” for a local venue because the couple is gay. The owner of the venue refused to comment on the issue, but the couple says everyone was fine with their wedding plans until they said they were lesbians . . . The ACLU’s legal director, Sarah Dunne, said businesses can’t pick and choose who they serve . . . According to the ACLU, Referendum-74 — the same-sex marriage law — has no bearing on this incident. The law would only allow clergy to opt out of performing marriages for religious reasons.

Orlando Sentinel: With Catholic organizations from around the state raising money to promote passage of an anti-abortion constitutional amendment in November, a coalition of religious groups is decrying the measure as a state imposition of religious dogma.

Casey Mattox at LifeNews: Yet while Alliance Defending Freedom successfully makes the case that this law violates employers’ religious freedom, the potentially devastating impacts of this mandate on others should not be ignored . . . It might be that the HHS Mandate really has two aims, the first of which is to establish the primacy of “sexual freedom” over religious liberty in the pecking order of constitutional protections. Alliance Defending Freedom and our allies are working to ensure that this does not happen. And the second aim may be to force resistant religious ministries into the prayer closet and out of the public square. Sadly, such an intention to water down the impact of communities of faith would be in keeping with previous steps the administration has taken to water down America’s stand for freedom of religion abroad to a more private and cloistered “freedom of worship.”

Jonathan Adler at the Volokh Conspiracy: Oklahoma Attorney General E. Scott Pruitt today filed an amended complaint in the state’s lawsuit against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that, among other things, challenges the legality of an IRS rule that would authorize tax credits for the purchase of health insurance in federally run exchanges, and thereby expose Oklahoma employers to penalties should they fail to comply with the law’s employer mandate.

Jack M. Balkan at the Atlantic: The Right Strikes Back: A New Legal Challenge for Obamacare
The fight over health care reform is still going strong: A conservative group now argues that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional because it started in the wrong House of Congress.

Christian Institute: Mrs Wilkinson, whose case was heard at Reading County Court yesterday, said: “All we ever wanted was to be able to live and work in keeping with our faith. “Christianity isn’t just something we do in church on a Sunday – it affects every area of our life, including our home and our business. Surely there is room for that in modern British life.”

The Hill (embedded video): President Obama on Monday made a campaign pitch to “people of faith” in which he reaffirmed what he called his “unwavering” commitment to “protecting religious liberty.”

ABA Journal: Justice Antonin Scalia was “enraged” when Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. switched his vote and created the majority needed to uphold the Obama administration’s health care law, according to a new book by journalist Jeffrey Toobin.

News-Leader: The suit was announced during a press conference in which College President Jerry Davis raised his voice on many occasions, saying the federal government health care act will require the school’s insurance to pay for abortions, abortion services and abortion counseling. “We believe it violates our religious rights as guaranteed by the Constitution,” Davis said.

Alan Sears at the American Thinker: Someone once famously distilled some two centuries of American debate over individual “rights” into a single sentence: “Your right to extend your fist,” he said, “ends about one inch short of the tip of my nose.”

Matt Bowman at LifeNews: It is an irony that the promoters of “reproductive choice” insist on coercing everyone else into paying for other people’s abortions and sexual decisions. Frances Kissling, founder of the misnamed “Catholics for Choice,” will appear opposite me on Monday at the University of Wisconsin Marathon County in Wausau to argue in favor of a government mandate that forces employers to violate their religious beliefs just because they operate in America.

LifeNews: Next month, thousands of pro-life advocates in more than 100 cities will engage in rallies to stand up for their religious freedom against the controversial HHS mandate the Obama administration put in place.

LifeSiteNews: The Obama administration is set to levy as much as a $1.3 million per day fine against a Christian retail business based on their religious objection to abortifacient drugs, according to a lawsuit filed this week.

Volokh Conspiracy: The Pacific Legal Foundation has filed a motion in its pending suit against Obamacare asking the judge (1) to rule that, when it enacted the Senate health care reform bill that includes a “tax” for not purchasing health insurance, Congress violated the Origination Clause, which says that all revenue bills must originate in the House; and (2) that their clients are under no legal obligation to purchase health insurance under the ruling of the Court.

STL Today: But just hours after lawmakers voted Wednesday, the new law was hit with its first legal hurdle. The Greater Kansas City Coalition of Labor Union Women and a female firefighter filed a lawsuit claiming that the legislation discriminates by sex and religion and that it goes against federal law.

Christian Institute: Fears that European judges could force churches to conduct gay weddings against their will are “legitimate”, Cabinet Minister Eric Pickles has said.

LifeNews: The Diocese of Nashville and seven of the Catholic entities operating in Middle Tennessee have filed suit in Federal court to block the implementation of mandates by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Matthew S. Bowman at the Wassau Daily Herald: It is an irony that the promoters of “reproductive choice” insist on coercing everyone else into paying for other people’s abortions and sexual decisions. Frances Kissling, founder of the misnamed “Catholics for Choice,” will appear opposite me on Monday at the University of Wisconsin Marathon County in Wausau to argue in favor of a government mandate that forces employers to violate their religious beliefs just because they operate in America.

Frances Kissling, President of Catholic for Choice at the Wassau Daily Herald:

If you go
What: The Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service will host a public forum on “Contraception, religious liberty and the Affordable Care Act”
Who: Professor Mark T. Brown will moderate. Speakers will be Frances Kissling, visiting scholar at the Center for Bioethics, and Matthew Bowman, senior legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom.
When: 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday
Where: UW Center for Civic Engagement, 625 Stewart Ave., Wausau.
The event is free and open to the public.

Columbia Missourian: Missouri lawmakers enacted new religious exemptions from insurance coverage of birth control Wednesday, overriding a gubernatorial veto and delivering a political rebuke to an Obama administration policy requiring insurers to cover contraception.

LifeSiteNews: There will be no allowances made for conscientious or religious objection in upcoming French legislation instituting “gay marriage,” the French minister of Justice, Christiane Taubira, revealed in an interview today.

LifeNews: The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma and the business says it is opposing the Health and Human Services “preventive services” mandate, which it says forces the Christian-owned-and-operated business to provide, without co-pay, the “morning after pill” and “week after pill” in their health insurance plan, or face crippling fines up to 1.3 million dollars per day . . . Washington politicians cannot force families to abandon their faith just to earn a living,” said Lori Windham, Senior Counsel, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is handling the lawsuit for Hobby Lobby.

MSNBC: The Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday assured congressional lawmakers that agents would play no role in enforcing the controversial requirement that Americans buy insurance under President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul.

Jonathan Adler discusses the issue at the Volokh Conspiracy.

The Hill: Sister Pat Farrell, president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, joined a group of 102 other faith leaders in co-signing a statement Monday that urges support for a larger Medicaid program.

The Thomas More Law Center, yesterday afternoon, filed its opening brief in support of its motion for a Preliminary Injunction to stop enforcement of the HHS Mandate.

Daily Herald: Wheaton College has appealed the dismissal of a lawsuit seeking an exemption from a health care reform mandate to provide coverage for emergency contraception. A federal judge last week dismissed the lawsuit, saying it was premature. College officials chose to appeal because they said the mandate infringes on the school’s religious liberty.

Archdiocese of Denver: . . . When religious people are marginalized from the public square, all of us lose. Religious values (like those of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., for example) have served as forces for great public good in America. Public shame of the religiously convicted undermines the American ideal. Sadly, however, Hercules is not alone in being marginalized; religious institutions and practices face increasing threats in America. Last week, the Washington, D.C.-based Liberty Institute released a survey of religious hostility in America, documenting hundreds of unreasonable persecutions of religious Americans. It is a chilling read . . . When religious conscience threatens essential human freedom or dignity, governments have a vested interest in protecting public welfare. But the law which Hercules is fighting is not an assertion of essential human freedom or dignity. The HHS mandate is designed to fund private sexual expression—and even abortion—from the coffers of American businesses. Trading free access to contraception for our foundational reverence for religious liberty is a betrayal of our history—and a short-sighted plan for America. House Speaker Frank McNulty took up the mantle of Hercules’ cause, and rightly commended them for their work. I pray the Denver City Council will do the same. Choosing to marginalize the owners of Hercules for their religiosity is an insult to the founding values of our nation.

Alan Sears appeared on the Hugh Hewitt Show to discuss various cases and issues including Newland v. Sebelius. | MP3 audio 7:12 mins

The Hill: “For us Democrats, ObamaCare is a badge of honor,” Sebelius told the crowd.

Jim Campbell appeared on Vermont Public Radio to discuss the Wildflower Inn litigation. | MP3 audio 2:50 mins

World Magazine audio segment. ADF mentioned.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: In a friend-of-the-court brief filed in a Washington state case, Americans United urged the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to allow state officials to enforce a rule that requires pharmacies to stock when locally demanded – and fill prescriptions for – the so-called “morning-after” pill, also known as Plan B.

JournalGazette.net: “Christian colleges should remain free to operate according to their deeply-held beliefs. Punishing religious people and organizations for freely exercising their faith is an assault on our most fundamental American freedoms,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor in a written statement. “This mandate leaves religious employers with no real choice: you must either comply and abandon your religious freedom and conscience, or resist and be taxed for your faith. Every American should know that a government with the power to do this to anyone can do this – and worse – to everyone.”

NC Register: “In my view, the administration is constantly changing the rule book in order to attack religious freedom in the broadest fashion possible,” asserted Matt Bowman, legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, a coalition of Christian attorneys. Alliance Defending Freedom was formerly called the Alliance Defense Fund. Bowman told the Register that government bureaucrats are “redefining what religious faith is and what faith organizations are.”

Dominique Ludvigson at the Heritage Foundation: Yesterday, Wheaton College appealed a federal district court dismissal of its lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for its anti-conscience contraception mandate.

LifeNews: Democrats at the 2012 Democratic National Convention are set to approve a platform today that is unambiguously pro-abortion and opposes any effort whatsoever to stop any abortions. The platform also calls on forcing Americans to pay for abortions at taxpayer expense.

The Christian Institute: Britain’s best-known legal journalist, Joshua Rozenberg, has previewed the case of Lillian Ladele which is being heard by the European Court of Human Rights next week. His preview has been published by the Law Society Gazette. You can read his article in full on their website.

Andy Newland at the Washington Times: With the help of Alliance Defending Freedom, we asked for an injunction that would block enforcement of the mandate while our lawsuit proceeds. A federal judge granted that injunction — the first legal victory of its kind against the abortion-pill mandate — and it was at that point, interestingly, that Denver city officials decided a proclamation honoring our company was no longer in order.

One News Now: Attorney Matt Bowman says the disputed mandate violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. “The federal government is bound by the strictest level of protection of religious freedom that exists under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” he asserts. “The government in this case simply is completely unjustified when it attempts to tell people of faith that they have to choose between serving the community and spreading the Good News on one hand, or facing crippling fines and penalties because the government wants them to participate in the provision of abortion-inducing drugs.” He says ADF is ready and willing to take these cases to the U.S. Supreme Court . . . [more]

Bridgett Amiri writes at the ACLU Blog: Religion Doesn’t Justify Discrimination: ACLU Files Brief in Third Contraception Rule Challenge “Another private company – this one sells lawn and snow removal equipment in Michigan – is challenging the federal rule that …

Religion Clause Blog: According to Tuesday’s Santa Fe New Mexican, the New Mexico Department of Health has changed the form that parents must file to make clear that philosophical, rather than religious, beliefs are not a basis for exemption.

Jim Campbell appeared on the Georgene Rice Show to discuss the Wildflower Inn Case and other issues. | MP3 audio 10:49 mins

LifeSiteNews: After the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) voted two weeks ago to support the wording of the country’s Criminal Code which states that a baby becomes a “human being” only after being born, LifeSiteNews decided to track down where the CMA stands with regard to conscious rights for doctors who believe that babies are human before being born and want nothing to do with abortion.

LifeNews: The Obama administration has reportedly revised the controversial pro-abortion HHS mandate a third time, though it still fails to offer protection for religious groups not wanting to refer women for abortion-causing drugs or pay for them.

Daily Mail: A bill prohibiting the use of controversial therapy aimed at ‘curing’ homosexuality on gay teenagers has been approved by California’s Assembly, bringing the state a step closer to becoming the first in the U.S. to outlaw the practice.

Human Events: Hercules Industries of Denver, Colorado is a successful 50-year-old heating and air-conditioning company, which was due to receive a Good Citizenship Award from the city for their many contributions to the community. The generous health care plan offered to their 265 employees, which a Denver Post editorial noted includes “premium benefits for pregnancy, women’s wellness and risk reduction,” was also cited in the proposed award. But Hercules Industries is owned by a Catholic family, the Newlands. They objected to ObamaCare’s outrageous imposition on their religious liberty.

Religion Clause Blog: In Wheaton College v. Sebelius, (D DC, Aug. 24,2012), the D.C. federal district court dismissed for lack of standing and ripeness a challenge by Wheaton College to the mandate issued under the Affordable Care Act requiring group health insurance policies to cover contraceptive services for women.

Jim Campbell appeared on the Zeb Bell Show to discuss the Wildflower Inn Case and other issues. | MP3 audio 11:12 mins