District Court Enjoins Latest ACA Non-Profit Contraceptive Coverage Mandate Accommodation

In Catholic Benefits Association LCA v. Burwell, (WD OK, Dec. 29, 2014), an Oklahoma federal district court granted a preliminary injunction against the latest Affordable Care Act contraceptive mandate accommodation to a Catholic nonprofit association that was formed to assist Catholic employers in providing health benefits.The court said:

Although CBA members may be “effectively exempt” from directly providing contraceptive services if they comply with the notification requirement, they are not exempt from the notification requirement itself. This requirement also violates their religious beliefs because, they argue, it requires them to be complicit in indirectly providing their employees with contraceptive services.

After thus finding a substantial burden on plaintiffs' religious exercise, the court concluded that prior 10th Circuit precedent (its decision in  Hobby Lobby) has held that the government does not  have a compelling interest in requiring contraceptive coverage, and the Supreme Court in Hobby Lobby did not conclusively rule otherwise.