Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Another Contraceptive Coverage Mandate Challenge; DOJ Wants Gilardi To Be Test Case In DC Circuit

Last week, yet another lawsuit was filed by a for-profit corporation and its owners challenging the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive coverage mandate.  The complaint (full text) in Trijicon, Inc. v. Sebelius, (D DC, filed Aug. 7, 2013), alleges:
The Mandate illegally and unconstitutionally requires Trijicon to violate its and its owners’ religious beliefs by forcing the company to provide abortion-inducing items, such as “Plan B” (the so-called “morning after pill”), Ella (the so-called “week after pill”), and intauterine devices (“IUDs”).
Trijicon is a leading manufacturer of sights and rifle scopes sold to hunters and to the military.  According to an Aug. 9 press release from Alliance Defending Freedom, the Justice Department has now notified the court that (as explained in plaintiffs'  motion for preliminary injunction) it will not oppose the granting of a preliminary injunction, so long as Plaintiffs agree to stay proceedings pending the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals final disposition of a similar challenge to the ACA in Gilardi v. Sebellius. The government's action is consistent with steps it has taken in other cases to use Gilardi as the vehicle for the DC Circuit to pass on business challenges to the mandate.

An interesting side note-- in 2010 Trijicon became the center of news coverage when it agreed to stop including coded references to Bible verses as part of the serial number on rifle sights supplied to the military. (See prior posting.)