News Release: U.S. Supreme Court Will Hear Non-Profit Arguments Against HHS Mandate

(Lansing, Mich.) — This afternoon the United States Supreme Court announced it has agreed to hear arguments from non-profit religious organizations opposed to the mandated requirements of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to include morally objectionable services — including abortifacients and contraceptives — in their employee health benefit plan. As a separate litigant against the federal government on this matter, Michigan Catholic Conference offered the following response to today’s news from the Supreme Court:

“We are very pleased that the nation’s highest court will hear from non-profit organizations as to how their First Amendment rights are being violated by this burdensome mandate. Michigan Catholic Conference looks forward to the day this matter is resolved in a manner that fully protects the rights of faith-based institutions to operate according to their conscience.”

Michigan Catholic Conference filed its initial lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services objectionable services mandate on May 21, 2012. A second suit was filed on November 14, 2013 along with Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Kalamazoo after a federal judge found the first case was not ripe for adjudication. A decision on the merits of the lawsuits accepted by the Supreme Court today is expected no later than June 30, 2016.

Michigan Catholic Conference is the official public policy voice of the Catholic Church in this state.

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