The Dr. James Dobson Family Institute (JDFI) and a coalition of Christian employers have filed a lawsuit against the Biden-Harris administration’s “radicalized movement” to strip businesses of their religious liberties, particularly through mandates imposed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regarding abortion and transgender “services.”
According to a press release, the legal challenge points in particular to the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which mandates that employers must offer accommodations to employees seeking abortion or in-vitro fertilization, and new regulations to the Affordable Care Act, which mandate health insurance coverage for employees seeking abortion or “gender-affirming care.” The suit also objects to April EEOC guidelines requiring employers to affirm and provide accommodations for transgender employees.
READ: Judge blocks federal mandate that required employers to accommodate abortion
Dr. Owen Strachan, a senior director at JDFI, said:
This radicalized immoral movement often speaks in the dulcet tones of tolerance and inclusivity concerning public morality; it often seeks to bind society to its vision and punish anyone who dares dissent with severe consequences. This is evident in HHS’s regulation requiring employer health plan coverage of abortion and so-called gender-affirming care, as well as in the EEOC’s regulation requiring employer accommodation of abortion and immoral infertility treatments, and its enforcement guidance requiring employers to grant access to bathrooms and other single-sex spaces to those of the opposite sex. Such rules crush the liberty that aligns with the order of creation as defined by God and reflected in nature.
PublicSquare, a “values-driven marketplace and payments ecosystem” that upholds Christian beliefs, has joined JDFI in the lawsuit.
“PublicSquare is a company that proudly celebrates life and family. To provide coverage for unethical and immoral procedures that conflict with the furtherance of life and healthy families would be to deny the very principles that guide our business,” stated Michael Seifert, PublicSquare founder and CEO. “No business owner should be forced to sacrifice their deeply held religious beliefs as they seek to provide a generous benefits package to employees.”
A number of other religious organizations have filed lawsuits against the EEOC and HHS mandates and have successfully had these mandates halted. However, in another instance, a similar lawsuit was dismissed.
