Priests for Life Group Sues U.S Over Contraception Mandate

February 16, 2012
Thom Weidlich

Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration was sued by a Christian organization called Priests for Life, which says the government mandate that insurance providers cover birth control violates the organization’s religious and free-speech rights.

Priests for Life, in a lawsuit filed yesterday in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, also objected to the requirement that employers provide coverage for sterilization and related education, and to the penalties for not complying. They said the mandate violates the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. The group wants the court to prohibit enforcement of the rules under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which President Barack Obama signed into law in 2010.

The mandate “violates the freedom of all people of faith, and even those of no faith, who have a conscientious objection to contraception, sterilization or abortion,” the Staten Island, New York-based group said in its complaint. the rest