Judge: Obamacare Contraception Violates Catholics’ Rights

A federal district judge in eastern Missouri ruled against the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive availability mandate, saying that the federal government could not constitutionally require anyone to pay for family health insurance that covers birth control or any other medical services that they object to morally.

St. Louis Federal Judge Jean Constance Hamilton greenlit the case, filed by Republican State Rep. Paul Wieland of Missouri and his wife, Teresa, to advance through the court system on summary judgment, notes the Los Angeles Times. Requiring an individual to buy an insurance policy that provides contraception could violate religious freedom and infringe on their morals, Hamilton ruled on July 21.

“Providing their dependent daughters with … coupons to redeem for contraceptives … is a substantial burden on the Plaintiffs’ exercise of religion,” Hamilton stated.

In her nearly 14-page opinion, Hamilton dismissed the U.S. Justice Department’s argument that national insurance markets cannot sustain themselves if they must be tailored to the needs and preferences of each enrolled individual, ruling instead that the Wielands will suffer the greater burden in this case.

“The ultimate impact is that Plaintiffs must either maintain a health insurance plan that includes contraceptive coverage, in violation of their sincerely-held religious beliefs, or they can forgo healthcare altogether, which will result in the imposition of significant penalties (not to mention the potentially crippling costs of uninsured health care),” she wrote, according to the Global Dispatch.

Hamilton suggested including the option to opt out of contraception coverage by checking off a box upon enrolling in a healthcare plan, echoing the 2014 Hobby Lobby ruling, in which the Supreme Court determined that corporations’ sincerely held religious beliefs can be infringed upon by Obamacare, even if those companies are not religious in nature.

“The sad irony here is that this family had to take the Obama administration to court to preserve their constitutionally guaranteed right to religious freedom when, as Judge Hamilton agreed, all the government needs to do is allow people to check a box to opt out of contraceptive coverage,” said St. Louis attorney Tim Belz of the Thomas More Society Special Counsel.

Sources: Los Angeles Times, Global Dispatch / Photo Credit: Bryancalabro/Wikimedia Commons