Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund, one of the many pro-life groups that have been fighting the pro-abrotion HHS mandate in court, tell LifeNews that the Obama adminsitration has been defeated in 10 of 14 court cases, so far.
Although the cases are all in the lower court stage and the battle have been the kinds of early smirmishes that typically take place in long legal battles, ADF Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman is encouraged.
Amidst a flurry of activity this month in Alliance Defending Freedom lawsuits against President Obama’s abortion pill mandate, the administration’s record in cases litigated so far stands at 10 losses and only four wins, Bowman says.
“Americans should be free to honor God and abide by their consciences at work, home, and church,” he said. “Washington politicians can’t confine our faith to the four walls of our homes and churches alone. Honoring God is important every day, in all areas of life, including in our work. The Obama administration’s attacks on faith and business prove that it doesn’t respect either one.”
Alliance Defending Freedom and allied attorneys filed a motion for an emergency injunction Friday following a notice of appeal filed this week in a lawsuit challenging the abortion pill mandate on behalf of Grote Industries, based in Indiana. The emergency motion in Grote Industries v. Sebelius seeks to suspend the mandate against the Catholic-owned auto lighting manufacturer while its appeal of a district court decision goes forward.
In a similar Alliance Defending Freedom lawsuit filed on behalf of a non-profit college, Louisiana College v. Sebelius, a federal judge has refrained from granting the administration’s motion to dismiss and instead issued a stay order Friday that preserves the college’s lawsuit and religious freedom claims through August. Rather than dismiss the case as the administration had requested, the court ordered the administration to provide an update of rules related to the mandate at that time.
Additional court deadlines are approaching next week for the administration in two other abortion pill mandate challenges: Tuesday is the deadline for the administration to appeal the injunction issued against the abortion pill mandate in Tyndale House Publishers v. Sebelius, and Jan. 18 is the deadline for the administration’s opening brief appealing another injunction issued against the mandate in favor of Colorado’s Hercules Industries in Newland v. Sebelius.
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys and allied attorneys are also litigating several other lawsuits against the mandate: one in Minnesota on behalf of Annex Medical, Inc.; another one in Indiana on behalf of Indiana’s Grace College and Seminary and California’s Biola University; and one in Pennsylvania on behalf of Geneva College and The Seneca Hardwood Lumber Company and its owners, the Hepler family. The lawsuits represent a large cross-section of Protestants and Catholics who object to the mandate.
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In one of the most-high profile and unsuccessful cases so far, Hobby Lobby, the Christian craft company, has been forced to alter its employee health insurance plan in order to avoid millions of dollars in fines each and every day it refuses to comply with the HHS mandate.
The most recent polling data from December 2012 shows Americans support a religious exemption to the mandate.
