On 4th of July Eve, There Was Another Religious Liberty Supreme Court Win: Christian College Doesn't Have to Sign Document Giving Employees "Free" Birth Control and Abortion Drugs

Ben Johnson : Jul 7, 2014
LifeSiteNews.com

"On the eve of Independence Day, we are grateful to God that the Supreme Court has made a wise decision in protection our religious liberty… We continue to believe that a college community that affirms the sanctity of human life from conception to the grave should not be coerced by the government into facilitation the provision of abortion-inducing drugs." -Wheaton College President Dr. Philip Ryken

(Washington, DC)—The HHS mandate suffered another setback last Thursday as the Supreme Court voted to allow a Christian college to opt out of signing a form that would result in their insurance company providing employees with "free" birth control and [abortion drugs]. Instead, says the high court, the coverage will kick in after they inform HHS of their religious objection.

The 6-3 decision exempts Wheaton College from filing Form 700, which certifies its religious objection to providing abortifacient drugs to women, until the case has been fully adjudicated. In all likelihood, the matter will ultimately be decided by the justices themselves.

Once an employer files EBSA Form 700, the Obama administration requires its insurance company to provide "free" birth control to the insured with no co-pay.

Some religious non-profits, such as the Little Sisters of the Poor, see signing the form as tantamount to a "permission slip" and would amount to material cooperation with evil. Others say ObamaCare's so-called religious "accommodation" is little more than an accounting gimmick.

"If the applicant informs the Secretary of Health and Human Services in writing that it is a non-profit organization that holds itself out as religious and has religious objections to providing coverage for contraceptive services, the respondents are enjoined from enforcing," the justices said in a brief, unsigned decision. "To meet the condition for injunction pending appeal, the applicant need not use the form prescribed by the Government, EBSA Form 700, and need not send copies to health insurance issuers or third-party administrators."

Wheaton, often considered the Ivy League of evangelical colleges, has no objection to contraception per se but to drugs such as Ella and the morning after pill that may cause an early abortion by preventing the implantation of a newly conceived baby.

The majority wrote, "Nothing in this interim order affects the ability of the applicant's employees and students to obtain, without cost, the full range of FDA approved contraceptives. The Government contends that the applicant's health insurer and third-party administrator are required by federal law to provide full contraceptive coverage regardless whether the applicant completes EBSA Form 700."