The Dialog

By Catholic News Service

NEW YORK — The Archdiocese of New York has dropped its legal demand that the Obama administration provide documents from the White House staff related to the church’s lawsuit against the government’s insurance mandate for birth control coverage.

Reuters reported that the archdiocese filed a notice with the U.S. District Court April 22 dropping its request for documents from the administration. In February, the archdiocese subpoenaed the records of White House staff, including those of the president, to use in the archdiocese’s lawsuit over the contraceptive mandate in the health insurance law.

On April 4, the White House asked the federal court to toss out the request, saying it was inappropriate and a burden on the administration.

Reuters said the archdiocese’s notice did not say why the subpoena was being withdrawn.

The archdiocese is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit in New York federal court challenging provisions in the Affordable Care Act that would require employers to include coverage of birth control in employees’ health insurance plans.

The Catholic Church teaches that artificial birth control is a sin. The church maintains that its entities as well as non-religious employers whose owners say they oppose contraception for moral reasons should not be required to pay for such coverage.

By Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON — New proposed regulations governing the contraceptive mandate under the Affordable Care Act continue to violate basic principles of religious freedom, said the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In comments filed March 20 with the Department of Health and Human Services, the USCCB raised a series of concerns, among them being that the new proposals keep in place “an unjust and unlawful mandate” regarding the provision of contraceptive and other pregnancy services and that the rules provide no exemption, or accommodation, for “most stakeholders in the health insurance process, such as individual employees and for-profit employers,” who are morally opposed to such coverage. Read more »

By Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON — The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Jan. 25 dismissed a lawsuit filed against the federal contraceptive mandate by the Archdiocese of Washington and its co-plaintiffs, saying the case is premature in light of the government’s “promises to amend the mandate.”

“Importantly, this ruling was not based on the merits of our case,” said a statement issued by the archdiocese.

“In fact, the court’s ruling today places the onus squarely on the government,” it said, “to fulfill its binding commitment to address the religious freedom concerns” of the archdiocese, The Catholic University of America, the Consortium of Catholic Academies, Archbishop Carroll High School and Catholic Charities of D.C.

“This requires the government to revise its HHS mandate in a way that truly respects our right to serve all those in need without violating our religious beliefs,” the archdiocese said.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson issued the ruling, saying that “if after the new regulations are issued, plaintiffs are still not satisfied, any challenges that they choose to bring will be substantially different from the challenges in the current complaint.”

Jackson was referring to the federal government stating that it will publish notice of proposed rulemaking in the first quarter of this year and issue a final rule on the mandate before August. In the meantime, the Obama administration has in place a “safe harbor” period that protects employers from immediate government action against them if they fail to comply with the mandate.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services mandate requires employers, including most religious employers, to include coverage for contraceptives, sterilization and some abortion-inducing drugs free of charge, even if the employer is morally opposed to such services.

The requirement, which is part of the Affordable Care Act, has a narrow exemption that applies only to those religious institutions that seek to inculcate their religious values and primarily employ and serve people of their own faith. It does not include a conscience clause for employers who object to providing such coverage.

One proposed accommodation from the government would allow those employers who object to providing contraceptives to pass on the costs of the mandated coverage to their insurance carriers or a third party, rather than pay for them directly. But many dioceses are self-insured, and Catholic officials say the policy would offer no fundamental change.

Jackson’s decision “was based on two commitments the government made to the court in this case and others: first, that the mandate as currently written will never be enforced against us; and second, that the mandate will be revised in a way that addresses our religious freedom concerns by March 31, 2013,” the Washington archdiocesan statement said.

“The court specifically noted that the archdiocese and its co-plaintiffs have the right to file a new complaint if the government does not make a meaningful change to the mandate by the March deadline’” the statement added. “The court made clear that it would not look favorably upon the government’s failure to comply.”

The archdiocese noted that Jackson’s decision was issued the same day as the March for Life marking 40 years of legalized abortion in the U.S., a day “when so many march to honor the dignity of every human life from conception to natural death.”

“We are hopeful that this ruling will ensure that Catholic and other religious entities will never be forced to engage in practices that violate our religious beliefs,” it added.

In a separate statement released Jan. 28, Catholic University of America officials said they were disappointed by Jackson’s ruling but “not discouraged in the least because the judge based her dismissal solely on procedural grounds; she did not rule nor make any judgments on the merits of our case.”

“Her procedural ruling hinges on the government’s promise to accommodate our objections by March 31, 2013,” it added. “We hope that the judge’s expectation is correct and look forward to a proposed solution from the government by the end of March that fully satisfies our religious liberty concerns and amicably resolves this dispute.”

“If that does not happen, we will find ourselves in court again,” the statement said.

By Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor denied two companies’ request for an injunction while they challenge part of the Department of Health and Human Services’ contraceptive mandate in court.

In an order filed Dec. 26, Sotomayor ruled that the owners of the Hobby Lobby craft store and the Mardel Christian bookstore chains did not qualify for an injunction while they challenge requirements of the Affordable Care Act. The law takes effect Jan. 1.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor talks with then-Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of Washington following the 2009 annual Red Mass at the city’s Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. Sotomayor denied two companies’ request for an injunction while they challenge part of the Department of Health and Human Services’ contraceptive mandate in court. (CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec)

Four days later, a federal District Court judge in Michigan granted a temporary restraining order to Tom Monaghan, the founder of Domino’s Pizza, allowing him to decline to provide contraceptive coverage to the employees of his current business, Domino’s Farms Office Complex. The company’s website lists offices for lease, a petting farm, an art gallery, a hair salon, a fitness center, a Catholic chapel and Our Lady of Grace Bookstore among the entities on the property. It’s unclear how many people are employees of Domino’s Farms. Monaghan no longer has any financial interest in the pizza company.

District Court Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff issued the Dec. 30 temporary restraining order, saying there would be little harm to the government in delaying possible implementation of the law at the company and that there was enough evidence of a possible valid religious rights claim by Domino Farms to justify further court proceedings.

At the Supreme Court, Sotomayor ruled on the bookstore chain’s petition because she oversees the federal circuit where Hobby Lobby filed suit challenging the HHS mandate.

The companies’ Oklahoma City-based owners contend that the mandate violates their religious beliefs because some of the drugs they are required to cover can lead to abortion. The family-owned companies have said they have no moral objection to “the use of preventive contraceptives” and will continue to cover those for employees.

The owners have appealed lower-court rulings that denied their claims on religious grounds.

Meanwhile, Priests for Life won its challenge to the mandate when government lawyers agreed Dec. 20 that the pro-life organization would not have to offer contraceptive services through the health insurance it provides to employees.

Charles S. LiMandri, president and chief counsel for the Freedom of Conscience Defense Fund, which filed Priests for Life’s lawsuit against the government, told Catholic News Service that the government changed its stance after a judge in the District Court for the Eastern District of New York said he would be inclined to side with the pro-life group. Priest for Life argued that it was a religious organization that should be exempt from the rule.

The American Freedom Law Center also filed the suit on behalf of Priests for Life.

Without the agreement, Priests for Life would have been forced to comply with the mandate beginning Jan. 1 or face fines for not complying, LiMandri said.

The agreement will stay in effect at least until the government issues new regulations covering contraceptive services under the health care law. The new regulations are expected in 2013.

Sotomayor’s decision does not pertain to any of the other lawsuits filed by Catholic and other religious organizations against the mandate.

The justice said it is not “indisputably clear” that the companies’ owners deserve the injunction while their appeals are pending.

“Even without an injunction, the applicants may continue their challenge to the regulations in the lower courts,” Sotomayor wrote in her order, leaving the door open for a future hearing by the Supreme Court.

The request to Sotomayor was the latest legal step by the companies controlled by Oklahoma City billionaire David Green and his family and follows a Nov. 20 ruling by a federal judge in Oklahoma City who denied a request for an injunction against the mandate.

That decision was appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. Lawyers asked for “emergency relief” from fines of more than $1 million a day the companies say they will face if the mandates are not met.

The HHS mandate has a narrow exemption that applies only to those religious institutions that seek to inculcate their religious values and primarily employ and serve people of their own faith. The mandate does not include a conscience clause for employers who object to such coverage on moral grounds.

About 50 Catholic dioceses, universities and church entities nationwide have filed lawsuits against the mandate.

By Catholic News Service

Catholic News Service

ST. LOUIS — A federal court ruling that rejected a Catholic St. Louis business owner’s challenge to the federal mandate that employee health insurance cover contraceptives will be appealed to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

U.S. District Judge Carole Jackson Sept. 28 granted the Obama administration’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Frank O’Brien, who sued the Department of Health and Human Services over a requirement that all employee health insurance plans include coverage for contraceptives, including some that can cause abortions, and sterilization.

Read more »

By Catholic News Service

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Diocese of Nashville and seven of the Catholic entities operating in middle Tennessee have filed suit in federal court to block implementation of a mandate by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services requiring them to cover services they find morally objectionable.

The mandate, which went into effect Aug. 1 as part of the health care reform law, requires all employers to provide coverage in their health care plans for contraceptives, including some that can cause abortions, and sterilizations. The mandate has a limited religious exemption that would protect only Catholic institutions that seek to inculcate Catholic values and primarily employ and serve Catholics.

Read more »

By Nancy Frazier O'Brien

Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON — The Catholic Health Association, a major supporter of President Barack Obama’s health reform law, is urging the government to expand its definition of religious employers who are exempt from the requirement to provide contraceptives and sterilization free of charge to their employees.

In comments filed June 15 with the Department of Health and Human Services, the top three CHA officials also said the Obama administration should provide and pay for the contraceptives itself if it insists that they must be provided at no cost to women.

Read more »

By Joseph Ryan

Dialog Editor

Next week, the Catholic Church in the United States will begin two weeks of prayer, education and action — June 21 through July 4 — to highlight the importance of defending religious liberty.

The “Fortnight for Freedom” will begin in the Diocese of Wilmington with a June 21 Mass celebrated by Bishop Malooly at 7 p.m. at Holy Cross Church in Dover. Additional Masses, holy hours and other events will mark the two-week focus on religious freedom at parishes throughout the diocese. (See a list of diocesan events that are currently scheduled below.) Read more »

By Bishop W. Francis Malooly

My Dear People:

In April of this year the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops published a statement titled “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty,” a statement on religious liberty. That statement is a response to the continuing encroachment on religious liberty by the government and, in particular, recent actions taken by the Health and Human Services Department in its mandate regarding provision in nearly all health insurance plans  coverage of contraception, sterilization, and abortion inducing drugs. This mandate from HHS is unprecedented and the federal government is attempting to force religious institutions to facilitate and fund something contrary to their own religious and moral teaching. The HHS is also reserving to itself the right to define which religious institutions are religious enough to merit protection of their religious liberties.

Read more »

By Dennis Sadowski

Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON — Religiously based restrictions on reproductive health services for victims of human trafficking cannot be imposed by the Department of Health and Human Services, a federal judge has ruled.

By delegating to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops the decision on which services to offer or not offer to trafficking victims, HHS violated the Establishment Clause of the Constitution, Judge Richard G. Stearns ruled March 23 in the case filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in federal court in Massachusetts.

Read more »