May 22, 2015 (CardinalNewmanSociety.org) — It appears that one reason the University of Notre Dame lost its court appeal yesterday—denying the University relief from the Obama administration’s HHS mandate to force employers to include sterilization, contraceptives and abortifacient drugs in employee health plans—is the University’s compliance with the mandate since January.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled two-to-one to deny an immediate religious exemption to the University.
“This marked the first time that a federal appeals court had rejected a claim that the Supreme Court’s ruling last June in the case of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores should shield a non-profit religious organization from any role whatsoever in carrying out the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate,” Lyle Denniston of the SCOTUS blog reported.
Why the difference with Notre Dame? Denniston suggested that the problem may be Notre Dame’s compliance with the HHS mandate, while simultaneously claiming that the mandate would violate its religious freedom.
“Although the government has made clear that non-profit groups need to take only a minimal step to take advantage of a religious exemption, Notre Dame—like some other non-profits—has been arguing that even taking such a step would mean that it had helped to implement the mandate in a way that violates its religious opposition to birth control,” the SCOTUS blog continued. But that “minimal step” is actually quite significant for a Catholic university, which is forced to cooperate with the immoral insurance by filing a form that triggers the coverage.
At the same time that Notre Dame has rightly argued in court that it should not be forced to be “complicit” in the insurance required by the mandate, the University is in fact complying with the mandate.
Denniston reported, “Notre Dame’s case is somewhat confusing—and the Seventh Circuit expressed frustration over this on Tuesday—because the university has already filed the prescribed form, when it faced a government-imposed deadline.”
That compliance drew a sharp rebuke from alumni when it was announced in January.
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“Complying with the mandate will predictably result, if indirectly, in a substantial number of drug-induced abortions, contraceptions and sterilizations,” stated the Sycamore Trust, an association of Notre Dame alumni. “Furthermore, in complying Notre Dame has set an example for all other Catholic organizations.”
“The most surprising aspect of Notre Dame’s decision to comply is that it offered no explanation for acting in a way it had represented to the court would ‘cause scandal’ and be ‘inconsistent with its religious beliefs,’” the Trust added. “Rather, its terse statement implied that it had no choice in the matter.”
Like other religious employers that have been unable to get court exemptions or are unable to “grandfather” their prior health plans without changes, Notre Dame in January had to choose between compliance or penalties of up to $100 per employee per day.
Tuesday’s appeals court ruling is not likely to end Notre Dame’s court fight, but it does mean that the University is likely to provide the immoral insurance benefits to employees for at least the next few months.
“The university has the legal option of asking for further review by the en banc Seventh Circuit or instead returning to the Supreme Court,” Denniston continued. “The Justices have only about six more weeks remaining in the current Term, so it would be too late to get a formal appeal decided before the summer recess.”
Reprinted with permission from the Cardinal Newman Society.