Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
Last week a federal judge granted Colorado Christian University an injunction from Obamacare’s mandate that they offer employees and students birth control pills and abortion drugs. Like other institutions, the school faced fines for refusing to follow the law.
“I conclude that there is a substantial likelihood that CCU can show that the ACA and the regulations constitute a substantial burden on the exercise of its religion,” Judge Robert E. Blackburn wrote. “Obversely, the government has not shown that this substantial burden is permissible under the [Religious Freedom Restoration Act] because the Mandate is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest.”
The Becket Fund for Religious Freedom, which represents the school, is one of at least two such organizations that have achieved recent court victories. The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has been in the news recently. Last month, two ADC-represented Christian colleges, Dordt College and Cornerstone University, were granted temporary injunctions against the requirement to pay for drugs that induce abortions. The ADC also represented the town of Greece, New York, in a U.S. Supreme Court case. The court ruled that the city may continue opening council meetings with prayer.
The Obamacare mandate exempts churches, but as these and other court victories (albeit temporary) show, it doesn’t go far enough. The question is, why does the so-called health care reform bill require employers to offer and pay for drugs that employees can obtain relatively cheaply and over-the-counter? They can buy birth control pills, Plan B, condoms, the sponge, and spermicides at stories like Walmart.
Of course, something else is going on. The goal is to eradicate religious protections, particularly for Christians. Leftists seek to quell dissent–judgments–about permissive behavior through government fiat. Hobby Lobby and other Christian-owned business are awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision on whether owners will be forced to violate their religious beliefs or pay millions in fines.
