The March for Life, the pro-life group that holds a massive rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court every January, does not have to abide byObamacare’s birth control mandate, a federal judge ruled Monday, saying the organization deserves the same protections as churches.
In a strongly worded opinion, U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon said the Health and Human Services Department practiced “regulatory favoritism” by exempting houses of worship on grounds its employees are less likely to want the contraceptives, while rejecting pleas from March for Life, a secular group that says its employees don’t want them, either.
“HHS may be correct that this objection is common among religiously-affiliated employers. Where HHS has erred, however, is in assuming that this trait is unique to such organizations. It is not,” wrote Judge Leon, who was appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush.
The ruling breaks new ground in the long-running saga over the contraceptive mandate, an outgrowth of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 that requires employers to cover 20 types of FDA-approved birth control-related drugs and services as part of their health plans.
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