Christian schools win birth control challenge

Last Updated: May 28, 2018By

In a case echoing Hobby Lobby’s successful 2014 challenge to the Obamacare contraceptive mandate, four Christian schools in Oklahoma have prevailed in their lawsuit against the federal government on similar grounds.

The four universities—Southern Nazarene, Oklahoma Baptist, Oklahoma Wesleyan, and Mid-America Christian—went to court in 2013. Represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), they objected to being required to provide abortion-inducing drugs and other contraceptive measures through their health plans.

The U.S. Supreme Court sent the case back to a lower court in 2016, leading to this month’s ruling in the Western Oklahoma District that the mandate infringed on the schools’ rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. 

“Religious organizations have the freedom to peacefully operate according to their beliefs without the threat of punishment by the government,” said ADF Senior Counsel Gregory Baylor in a statement about the ruling. “The government has many other ways to ensure access to these drugs without forcing people to violate their deepest convictions.” 

The mandate could be doomed, since the Trump administration has declined to defend it in court. 

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