Oral arguments were presented in a Detroit courtroom last week in a motion to stop the implementation of the controversial birth control mandate, while a judge in Missouri dismissed a similar suit on grounds that it did not substantially burden a Catholic businessman’s right to the free exercise of his religion.
The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC) is reporting that Federal Judge Robert H. Cleland, of the Eastern District of Michigan, heard oral arguments in their motion for a Preliminary Injunction that would stop implementation of the HHS mandate from taking effect. TMLC’s Lead Counsel Erin Mersino argued on behalf of Plaintiffs, Legatus, Weingartz Supply, Inc., and its owner and President Dan Weingartz.
Ethan Davis, attorney for U. S. Department of Justice, gave the Government’s argument.
“On January 1st, our clients will have two choices: violate the law and incur steep penalties or violate their conscience,” Mersino argued during the trial. “We are hopeful that the Court will render a decision that protects religious freedom and our rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.”
The Government attorney, on the other hand, argued that because Weingartz was a secular corporation it had no constitutional right to free exercise of religion or free speech.
Judge Cleland told both sides that whatever ruling he grants, the case will continue to be litigated. He pressed the Government’s attorney about the “imminent harm” the Plaintiffs would suffer if the mandate is allowed to stand.
“Judge Cleland noted that come January 1, 2013 ‘the axe is going to fall on Weingartz,’ referring to the fact that after January 1, 2013 Weingartz will be subject to fines of $2,000 per employee, which for Weingartz amounts to a fine of $340,000 annually,” the TMLC reports.
TMLC’s lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of the HHS Mandate under the First Amendment, specifically the Free Exercise of Religion and Free Speech clauses. It also claims that the HHS Mandate violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 and the Administrative Procedure Act.
In another case decided on September 28, Missouri federal district court, Judge Carol E. Jackson (a President George H. W. Bush appointee) handed down an opinion rejecting a Missouri company’s (O’Brien Industrial Holdings, OIH) challenge to the contraceptive challenge. The Missouri court found that the HHS Mandate was a law of “general applicability”— a holding that is contrary to the numerous exemptions in the mandate that allow employers exemptions and waivers based upon arbitrary and non-religious reasons.
“Obviously we’re disappointed in this judge’s decision, but this is just the end of round one,” said Francis J. Manion, senior counsel with the American Center for Law and Justice, to CNA. “No one expected that this case would end at the district court level, no matter who won.”
A notice of appeal was filed today.
© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace® http://www.womenofgrace.com
