Wheaton's Birth Control Mandate Suit Dismissed

CBNNews.com — Mon, 2012-08-27 14:53

A federal judge has dismissed Wheaton College's lawsuit against the Obama administration's health care mandate.

The mandate requires religious groups to provide contraception coverage in their health insurance plans, even if it violates their beliefs.

The judge threw out Wheaton's suit after the government altered an exemption to include the college. That exemption gives religious institutions one year to comply.

The government said it will re-do the mandate to protect religious freedom before the exemption expires.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty represented Wheaton in the case

"The government has now re-written the 'safe harbor' guidelines three times in seven months, and is evidently in no hurry to defend the HHS (Health and Human Services) mandate in open court," The Washington Examiner quoted Becket Fund General Counsel Kyle Duncan.

"By moving the goalposts yet again, the government managed to get Wheaton's lawsuit dismissed on purely technical grounds," he said. "This leaves unresolved the question of religious liberty at the heart of the lawsuit."

Currently, there are 24 lawsuits challenging the law's constitutionality.