Federal judge sides with March for Life against HHS Mandate

Alliance Defending Freedom has announced a victory in their efforts to defend March for Life, the organization behind the annual pro-life protest of the same name, from having to cover abortifacient contraception.

Judge Richard Leon of the federal District Court for the District of Columbia has issued an order permanently forbidding the Obama Administration from enforcing the insurance mandate against the group via significant fines.

“If the purpose of the religious employer exemption is, as HHS states, to respect the anti-abortifacient tenets of an employment relationship,” Leon wrote, “then it makes no rational sense – indeed, no sense whatsoever to deny March for Life that same respect.”

ADF notes that while there have been several such victories for pro-lifers, this is the first to uphold conscience rights based on general moral objections to abortion that are not specifically connected to religious beliefs. “The government has no right to demand that organizations provide health insurance plan options that explicitly contradict their mission,” ADF Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman said.

In addition, ADF Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot expressed hope that “other courts that consider similar cases will issue their own orders upholding the right of pro-life organizations to be free from this type of government coercion.”