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Another court says you cannot be pro-life and run a business in this country.
And two more colleges sue their country for religious freedom.
This is the CitizenLink Report. Hi, I'm Stuart Shepard along with Bruce Hausknecht who follows
the courts for Focus on the Family.
Hi, Bruce
Hi, Stuart
This is no longer hypothetical and it's no longer the false vision that the president
sold the country. Millions of people are now getting notices that their health care is
being cancelled. But the government says they have to have health care and the remaining
options cost significantly more. NBC News says the administration knew three-years ago
-- they knew three-years ago that the so-called Affordable Care Act would lead to this even
as the president kept promising "if you already have health insurance, you can keep your health
insurance." And the latest company with Christian ownership that's suing for religious freedom
and losing in the federal courts is called Eden Foods. Tell us about that case.
Yes, it is a small company owned by one man, a catholic in Michigan, and he challenged
the mandate that says he should be providing abortion causing drugs in his healthcare benefits
for his employees. He said listen, I incorporate my religious beliefs into my business, I cannot
do that. He sought relief in the federal courts and it went up to the 6th circuit that covers
three mid-western states and they said no, you get no mandate, your religious rights
have not been infringed and therefore you have to provide these abortion causing drugs.
So the summary is if you're a Christian and you own a business you have to betray your
beliefs or defy the law.
Unfortunately that's the chose that we're seeing more and more. There are now over 75
federal lawsuits that have been filed against the HHS Mandate. Roughly half by these types
of for-profit companies owned by people of faith run as a for-profit business and the
other half are non-profit religious institutions, religious ministries, newspapers, like the
two colleges that recently filed lawsuits.
And let's talk about those. They're in two different states but both Christian oriented colleges.
Right. Dordt College is out of Iowa, Sioux Center, Iowa, and they're joined in a lawsuit
in Iowa by a Grand Rapids Michigan University called Cornerstone University. They both filed
together which they're allowed to do under the federal rules even though they're in different
states because they have the same lawyers that are representing them.
They are in different districts -- different appeals court districts in the country too
which is notable.
Now that's true. Now Cornerstone is in the 6th circuit which has already proven how unfriendly
it is toward religious conscience but Iowa is in the 8th circuit which is very friendly
and has granted injunctions in the past for -- against the enforcement of the mandate.
So 8th circuit is where you go if you want your religious freedom protected.
6th circuit, you want to stay out of.
That does not sound like a good option for anybody.
No, it isn't and in fact the 6th circuit decision for Eden was predictable because there's already
a case on the books where another for-profit company, AutoCam, was rejected in their request
for an injunction against that mandate.
Now my understanding is we have a couple of cases that have made it up to the Supreme
Court and right now they're on hold. Tell us about the latest on that.
Yes, there are three cases now before the Supreme Court where petitions have been filed.
These petitions ask the Supreme Court to please hear our appeal. One is out of the 3rd circuit
in Pennsylvania, that's Conestoga Wood Specialties -- the 6th circuit one is the AutoCam one I just
mentioned and the last one is Hobby Lobby from the 10th circuit in Colorado. And those
three have now gone to the Supreme Court. We're waiting to hear whether the Supreme
Court will accept those appeals. Now one of them, the 10th circuit, was favorable to religious
freedom but the other two were not.
And it's notable; we were talking about this before we started here, that Hobby Lobby and
the US Government are both asking the Supreme Court to hear the case. Even though Hobby
Lobby won they're saying no, we still want you to hear this. Why would they do that?
That's right. Because they realize how critical, how crucial this issue of religious liberty
is, for not just for Hobby Lobby, but for the entire country. Everyone who wants to
form a business or even a non-profit, they need to know whether the federal government
is going to choose what their religious beliefs have to be and whether or not the federal
government is going to leave us be.
Now all expectations are since we have a split in the circuits and it's very high level case
and there are 75 cases as you mentioned in the court system, it's very likely the Supreme
Court will take this up. The question then becomes when? I'm not going to ask you to
speculate too much but what's your thought about how soon we might see this happen?
Yeah, since the petitions are at the Supreme Court they usually hear those in, there are
private conferences, within the next month or so they will probably get those petitions
and we should know at least by January 1 whether they are going to accept one or more of these
cases to be argued probably before the end of April.
Again, it's speculation, but do you suspect the Court will bring them together as one
case to hear them?
It's possible they will combine both a victory as well as a defeat because they get both
sides of the argument that way. So I would expect them to accept a couple of those cases.
At the heart of all this, this is about religious freedom and the freedom to hold a pro-life
point of view and run a business in the United States of America.
Very important issues. It couldn't be more critical to this country at this time to hear
these cases at the intersection of life and religion. It's that important.
Alright. Bruce, thank you for the update, very helpful.
You're welcome.
And thank you for watching. We always appreciate hearing from you. You may write us at Mail@CitizenLink.com
Pray for all of the companies and colleges, Christian business owners who are involved
in these more than 75 suits against the federal government seeking their religious freedom as
guaranteed under the 1st Amendment. Pray that they are able to sleep at night and that they're
able to give reassurances to the people who work for them that their companies will continue.
And remember, Stand Tall and Be Heard!