A district court ruled that the federal government can’t force a small Christian college to provide reproductive services such as the morning-after pill in its healthcare plans because it violates the college’s religious beliefs.
The ruling late Thursday caps a five-year battle between the Illinois-based Wheaton College and the Department of Health and Human Services over Obamacare’s birth control mandate. The ruling comes as President Trump’s efforts to scale back the mandate have been challenged in court.
George W. Bush appointee Judge Robert M. Dow Jr. of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued the ruling. It protects Wheaton from any future application of HHS’ mandate, according to a statement from the nonprofit law firm Becket, which typically focuses on religious liberty cases and represented Wheaton.
The case was filed in 2012 after Wheaton declined to offer services such as the morning-after pill in its health plans because it violated the college’s beliefs.
The case has been on hold for the past three years. During that time, the birth control mandate under Obamacare, which requires insurers and employers to provide birth control at no cost, has undergone a significant evolution.
The Obama administration provided an exemption to the mandate for churches and religious institutions. It crafted a compromise with religious organizations such as charities or universities where employees would get birth control but the government, not the employer, would pick up the tab.
A group of charities and universities, including the University of Notre Dame, sued the Obama administration, charging that they still have a role in providing birth control that is a violation of their religious beliefs. The groups wanted an exemption, which the Obama administration objected to.
The Supreme Court, which was short-handed at the time after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, essentially punted the decision in 2016 back to lower courts.
The Trump administration sought to scale back the mandate last year. An interim final rule let any employer receive an exemption to providing birth control if they had a moral or religious objection.
The final rule is being challenged in federal court, with opponents claiming it did not follow federal law for proposing and commenting on regulations.
Regarding Wheaton, the Trump administration agreed that the university’s religious rights were being hindered by the mandate, according to Dow’s order.
“Wheaton should never have had to go to court to protect its rights in the first place,” said Becket attorney Diana Verm, who represented the school. “This order ensures we won’t have to come back.”
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misidentified the court that delivered the ruling. The Washington Examiner regrets the error.
