Notre Dame Once Again Loses Legal Battle Against Birth Control Benefit

[Novara]

Last edited Thu May 21, 2015, 08:28 AM - Edit history (1)

Notre Dame Once Again Loses Legal Battle Against Birth Control Benefit

A federal appeals court on Tuesday again rejected claims by the University of Notre Dame that the federal accommodation process to the birth control benefit in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) substantially burdened the university’s religious rights.

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Under the accommodation process, groups like Notre Dame that claim a religious objection to the birth control benefit must simply notify the administration of their objection. The administration then takes on the task of coordinating coverage between insurance providers and those who want contraception coverage.

Notre Dame and other religiously affiliated nonprofits objected to this requirement, arguing that simply filling out the form to notify its insurance company, or other relevant third parties, violates its religious beliefs by making it complicit in a scheme it finds morally objectionable: providing contraception to university employees and students.

So far federal appeals courts in multiple jurisdictions have rejected those claims which, under most circumstances, would be the end of the road for the legal challenges to the birth control benefit.

The litigation surrounding the birth control benefit has never been like “most circumstances.” Despite relying heavily on the existence of the accommodation process to rule for-profit companies like Hobby Lobby could opt out of the benefit, conservatives on the Roberts Court resurrected the claims of Notre Dame and other nonprofits, prompting appellate courts take a second look at their decisions in light of the Hobby Lobby ruling.

Tuesday’s decision was the first of those opinions to come back following the Roberts Court’s order to reconsider, and it is a strong repudiation of the religiously affiliated nonprofits claims. In a 2-1 decision, a panel of judges from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Notre Dame’s claims that participating in the accommodation process substantially burdened its religious rights.

Read more: http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/05/20/notre-dame-loses-legal-battle-birth-control-benefit/

[yeoman6987]

1. Filling out a form is discrimination?

Wow! I work at a University and I recall the first day I started I went to HRO and spent at least 2-hours filling out a wide variety of forms. I can't imagine it would take more then another 5 minutes to fill out a birth control exemption form. The court was right on this decision.

[Panich52]

2. Must be one of those 'free will' debates... :/