Court Blocks HHS Mandate

While most of the attention regarding the HHS mandate that no co-pay abortifacients be included in all employer health care plans has focused on religious institutions especially the Catholic Church a small family owned business has fought and won an injunction in federal court. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys obtained the first-ever order against the mandate on behalf of Hercules Industries and the Catholic family that owns it. The Denver based heating ventilation and air conditioning manufacturer that employs nearly 300 full-time workers, got an injunction in federal court which stops enforcement of the controversial ObamaCare mandate.

The court decision applies only to this company and will not be applied nationwide. Colorado District Judge John Kane said that the government’s arguments “are countered, and indeed outweighed, by the public interest in the free exercise of religion."

The case must be argued in court but the mandate is stayed for the present. Under the mandate all employers except those with a religious affiliation must begin offering contraceptives and abortifacients in their insurance policies beginning August 1. More on the injunction can be found here, here, and here.