Tag Archives: Topic: Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

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.”

Times Online: An attorney representing Geneva College and other faith-based institutions said his group is not impressed by a concession made Friday by the Obama administration. Gregory Baylor, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, a national coalition of about 2,000 Christian attorneys, called the proposed change “an accounting gimmick.”

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.

Rachel Zoll
and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar on the AP (PottsMerc): 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.

Hugh Jones at Alliance Defending Freedom: The new exemption is simpler than before but continues to cover only a sliver of religious organizations. As before, the new exemption cross-references and relies upon an unrelated section in the tax code that exempts certain church-related organizations from filing annual returns with the IRS.

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.”

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 a statement following the order. “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.”

Lyle Deniston at SCOTUS Blog: Seeking to head off a wave of lawsuits by non-profit religious hospitals, colleges, and charities, the Obama administration on Friday issued a new set of proposals that promise those organizations’ female employees or their female students free access to birth control and other reproductive health services while insulating their employers from any role in providing or paying for that access.

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.”

HHS.gov: The Obama administration today issued proposed rules for public comment regarding contraceptive coverage with no cost sharing under the health care law. The proposed rules provide women with coverage for preventive care that includes contraceptive services with no co-pays, while also respecting the concerns of some religious organizations. Today’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking reflects public feedback received through the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued in March 2012. In addition, these proposed rules are open for public comment through April 8, 2013.

“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.”

Gerard Bradley at NRO Bench Memos: The latest administration proposal does nothing whatsoever to help businesses like Hobby Lobby or Dominos Farms. All for-profit companies are subject to the contraception/abortion mandate, just as before. They will have to seek legal protection from the courts, and in some cases (at least) will likely receive it from the Religious Freedom Restoration Act..

U.S. Citizens Association v. Sebelius, No. 11-3327/3798

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.”

AL.com: Irondale, Ala.,-based EWTN Global Catholic Network, which filed a lawsuit last year challenging the HHS mandate, issued the following response . . .

The HIll: The Health and Human Services Department rejected calls to let any employer opt out of the mandate based on religious objections to contraception. Instead, the department released regulations that hew largely to the policy it had previously announced.

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.”

CNSNews: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) made $64.2 billion in “improper payments” in fiscal 2012, according to the federal website PaymentAccuracy.

“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.”

Religion Clause Blog: In Grote v. Sebelius, (7th Cir., Jan. 30, 2013), the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision issued an injunction pending appeal to prohibit enforcement of the Affordable Care Act contraceptive coverage mandate against a Catholic-owned for-profit small business and its owners.

World Magazine: Matt Bowman of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)—a group representing several plaintiffs—says the issue is likely headed to the Supreme Court, and the outcome could affect religious freedoms for all Christians who believe their faith extends to every area of life: “The question becomes: Is Jesus Christ the Lord of all human life or not? And the federal government is saying He isn’t allowed to be.”

The Hill: The 73-page IRS regulation, and a fact sheet for the public, focus primarily on exemptions to the mandate — referred to as the law’s “shared responsibility” provision. | HHS Regs. | IRS Regs.

Ken Connor at LifeNews: Americans are living in an age, however, where the actions of government increasingly come into conflict with Christian values. As issues like abortion and gay marriage continue to insert themselves into the cultural milieu, Christians and other traditional-minded Americans – including those of other religious faiths – find themselves marginalized and even demonized. The moral authority increasingly rests with those who control the narrative: Big Government, Hollywood, and the mainstream media.

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

Americans United for Separation of Church and State: In a friend-of-the-court brief, Americans United urged the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the Obama administration’s contraceptive mandate, which requires most businesses to provide workers with a health insurance that includes no-cost birth control.

Religion Clause Blog: As reported by Courthouse News Service yesterday, a bill has been introduced in the Texas legislature that would give offsetting state tax refunds or credits to any business that pays a federal fine for refusing on conscience grounds to offer employees a health insurance plan that includes emergency contraception.

Michael Norton on AM 91 Point of Faith with Roy Hanschke and Denise Washington-Blomberg | Roy MP3 audio 8:02 mins

Carson Holloway at Public Discourse: If the HHS mandate is enforced, our government may provoke a schism in the American Catholic Church and will reduce faithful Catholics to second-class citizenship.

Baptist Press on Townhall: Matt Bowman of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) — a group representing several plaintiffs — says the issue is likely headed to the Supreme Court, and the outcome could affect religious freedoms for all Christians who believe their faith extends to every area of life: “The question becomes: Is Jesus Christ the Lord of all human life or not? And the federal government is saying He isn’t allowed to be.” For the owners of Christian companies embroiled in one of the country’s most important religious liberty issues of the new century, faith isn’t an activity the government can sequester to Sundays. “You have to practice what you preach,” says Paul Griesedieck. “And you have to live your belief seven days a week.”

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.”

AP: The legal challenges over religious freedom and the birth control coverage requirement in President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul appear to be moving toward the U.S. Supreme Court . . . “The circuits have split. You’re getting different, conflicting interpretations of law, so the line of cases will have to go to the Supreme Court, `’ said Carl Esbeck, a professor at the University of Missouri Law School who specializes in religious liberty issues.

Religion Clause Blog: In Persico v. Sebelius, (WD PA, Jan. 22, 2013), a Pennsylvania federal district court dismissed on ripeness grounds a challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate brought by the Catholic Diocese of Erie, Pennsylvania and two organizations affiliated with Pennsylvania Catholic Charities.

Religion Clause Blog: The complaint (full text) in Gilardi v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, (D DC, filed 1/24/2013) challenges the application of the mandate to two related corporations, Freshway Foods and Fresway Logistics, Inc., which process, pack and ship fresh produce.

Roll Call: Abortion opponents rallying by the thousands Friday in Washington at the annual March for Life have lost some political battles lately but won a string of court victories, thanks in part to a diverse coalition challenging a contraception mandate in the health care overhaul . . . The white shoe law firm of Jones Day has also deployed a team of lawyers around the country, including a half-dozen in its Washington office, to defend Catholic dioceses and educational institutions suing the federal government. Other leading players representing the plaintiffs include the anti-abortion group Americans United for Life, the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Alliance Defending Freedom and the American Center for Law and Justice.

Christian Post: The attorneys for Sioux Chief who submitted the suit include Kevin H. Theriot, Esq. of the Alliance Defending Freedom and Jonathan R. Whitehead, an “allied attorney” with the ADF. In a statement, Whitehead explained that the issue at hand with this and other similar suits is that of the American constitutional tradition of religious freedom. “Americans should be free to honor God and live according to their consciences wherever they are,” said Whitehead. “They have the God-given freedom to live and transact business according to their faith, and the First Amendment has always protected that. Forcing Americans to ignore their faith just to earn a living is unprecedented, unnecessary, and unconstitutional.”

Robert Barnes at the Washington Post: Enjoy the festivities, President Obama, and while you’re on the grand stage Monday, it might be wise to make nice with the assembled Supreme Court justices. The next legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act is moving quickly to the high court, and bringing potent questions about religious freedom, gender equality and corporate “personhood.”

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.

One News Now: “The Constitution doesn’t allow the government to decide what faith is, who the faithful are, or even where they exercise that faith,” contends ADF attorney Kevin Theriot. “It’s not the job of Washington bureaucrats to confine faith to inside homes or inside churches. Faith and religious freedom [are] God-given, not government-driven.”

Life News: “Americans should be free to honor God and live according to their consciences wherever they are,” said lead counsel Jonathan R. Whitehead, one of nearly 2,200 allied attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom. “They have the God-given freedom to live and transact business according to their faith, and the First Amendment has always protected that. Forcing Americans to ignore their faith just to earn a living is unprecedented, unnecessary, and unconstitutional.”

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: President Barack Obama declared today Religious Freedom Day as his administration is working overtime to deny religious freedom to pro-life Americans who do not want their companies, schools or businesses to pay for drugs that may cause abortions.

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.

Citizen Link: Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed the suit on behalf of Sioux Chief Manufacturing, a Catholic-owned business in Peculiar, Mo. “Americans should be free to honor God and live according to their consciences wherever they are,” said ADF Lead Counsel Jonathan Whitehead. “They have God-given freedom to live and transact business according to their faith, and the First Amendment has always protected that.”

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]

Religion Clause Blog: The complaint (full text) in Sioux Chief Mfg. Co., Inc. v . Sebelius, (WD MO, filed 1/14/2013), contends that the mandate violates plaintiffs’ rights under the 1st and 5th Amendments, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act.  Alliance Defending Freedom issued a press release announcing the filing of the case.

“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.”

Judge Halts Illinois Mandate of Contraceptives and Abortifacients Coverage in HHS Lawsuit Thomas More Society Says Triune Health Group’s Religious Liberty Protected WHEATON, Ill., Jan. 15, 2013 / Today, Judge Terence M. Sheen of the DuPage County Circuit Court granted …

LifeNews: Enroll America, a newly formed advocacy group run by supporters of Obamacare, announced a new campaign today to sign up people for the government-run health care plan that contains no safeguards preventing taxpayer dollars from paying for abortions or going to abortion companies like Planned Parenthood.

Breakpoint Radio (links to audio – 25:30 mins): John Stonestreet interviews Matt Bowman and Emily Hardman, two experts on the front line of the fight for religious liberty.

A Missouri-based plumbing products manufacturer is the latest company to challenge the Obama administration’s abortion pill mandate in court.

Ed Whelan at National Review: Last Friday, in Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius, federal district judge Mitchell S. Goldberg joined the minority of courts that have denied injunctive relief to the owners of for-profit businesses that have religious objections to complying with the HHS mandate.

San Francisco Chronicle: In the most important ruling to date, a federal appeals court in Chicago has blocked enforcement of the mandate against an employer – not a church or a church-affiliated hospital or university, but an Illinois construction company whose principal owners, a married couple, are devout Catholics.

Religion Clause Blog: In Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius, (ED PA, Jan 11, 2013), a Pennsylvania federal district court refused to issue a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive coverage Mandate in a suit brought by a small wood specialties manufacturing company and its five Mennonite Christian owners (the Hahn family).

Religion Clause Blog: As reported by CNN, in statement from its general counsel Hobby Lobby says it has shifted the beginning of its health care plan year, thus delaying for several months the requirement that it comply with the Women’s Preventive Services coverage mandate.

Amidst a flurry of activity this month in Alliance Defending Freedom lawsuits against President Obama’s abortion pill mandate, the administration’s record in cases litigated so far stands at 10 losses and only four wins.

The Hill: U.S. District Judge Robert L. Miller wrote Monday that Notre Dame’s claims of injury are not ripe and that the school does not have standing to bring them.

Religion Clause Blog: In Triune Health Group, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, (ND IL, Jan. 3, 2012), an Illinois federal district court granted a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of the Affordable Care Act contraceptive coverage mandate against a for-profit company that that facilitates re-entry of injured workers into the workforce