Court Denies Small Business Preliminary Injunction Against Contraceptive Coverage Mandate

In Annex Medical, Inc. v. Sebelius, (D MN, Jan. 8, 2013), a Minnesota federal district court refused to issue a preliminary injunction to prevent enforcement of the Affordable Care Act contraceptive coverage mandate against a small for-profit medical device manufacturing company and its devout Catholic CEO.  The court concluded that there was not a likelihood that plaintiffs would succeed on the merits of their Religious Freedom Restoration Act claim because "the Mandate  places  only  a  de  minimis,  not  substantial,  burden  on plaintiffs’  practice  of  religion  under  RFRA." (See prior related posting.)