The Affordable Care Act is currently in appeal in Washington. These cases will provide the court’s first look at President Barack Obama’s health-care bill since it upheld the core of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2012, according to Bloomberg News. The issue is mandatory employer-paid birth control, a dispute involving coverage for contraceptives and religious liberty.
Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Health Secretary, had her lawyers urge the U.S. Court of Appeals to deny a request by the city’s Roman Catholic archbishop to delay a lower court’s decision in favor of the coverage that is mandated by the act, reports Bloomberg News.
The lawsuits were filed by the craft store chain Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. The issue is whether private companies can refuse to do this based on the claim it violates their religious beliefs.
The government stated that “They need only self-certify that they are nonprofit organizations that hold themselves out as religious and have religious objections to providing coverage for contraceptive services and provide a copy of their self-certification to their health insurance issuer or third-party administrator,” Attoney’s representing the archdiocese believes that the enforcement of the health plan “constitutes impermissible facilitation of objectionable services in violation of the Catholic doctrines of material cooperation with immoral conduct and ‘scandal.’”
According to CNN, almost 50 pending lawsuits have been filed in federal court from various corporations challenging the birth control coverage benefits in the Obama care law championed by President Barack Obama. Companies that refuse to provide the coverage could be fined up to $1.3 million daily.
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