8/2/2019 AG Seeks to Intervene in EWTN Contraception Mandate Case

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NEWS RELEASE

Luther StrangeAlabama Attorney General

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMarch 22, 2012

For More Information, contact: Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491

Suzanne Webb (334) 242-7351Page 1 of 2

501 Washington Avenue Montgomery, AL 36104 (334) 242-7300www.ago.alabama.gov

ALABAMA AG FILES MOTION TO INTERVENE IN EWTN LAWSUITCHALLENGING MANDATE FOR CONTRACEPTION COVERAGE

(MONTGOMERY)-- Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange today filed a motion tointervene in a federal lawsuit challenging the contraception coverage mandate imposed by theObama Administration under the healthcare law signed by the President two years ago Friday.

Todays action regarding a mandate particularly for contraception coverage comes asthe U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear the broader issue of whether the federal government maymandate that individual citizens be required to purchase insurance coverage. Attorney General

Strange and other state Attorneys General are challenging the individual mandate in the U.S.Supreme Court, which will hear three days of argument March 26-28.

The contraception mandate requires all employers and insurance companies includingthose with religious and conscience-based objections to provide coverage for all FDA-approvedcontraceptive methods and sterilization procedures. Among these items are the abortifacientsknown as the morning -after pill and the week -after pill. The only religious exemption is anarrow one that applies primarily to churches and other houses of worship. Religious non-profits,schools, universities, and other enterprises including those who offer critical social services to theneedy do not qualify for the exemption.

The lawsuit that Alabama is seeking to join was filed by Eternal Word Television Network,Inc. (EWTN) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama on February 9, and isstyled Eternal Word Television Network, Inc. v. Kathleen Sebelius, et al.

The Attorney General explained that the mandate violates federal law and would requirestate offici als to regulate insurance in violation of Alabama law: The freedom of religion, and tobelieve as one sees fit, is our first freedom under the United States Constitution. The people ofAlabama have recognized the importance of this freedom and have enshrined it in theirConstitution as well. Alabama law does not allow anyone to be forced to offer a product that isagainst his or her religious beliefs or conscience.

The healthcare law signed by President Obama two years ago is taking effect now, and theconsequences are dire. The law forces the States to be used as instruments in carrying out thefederal governments unconstitutional policies, Strange said. Under the law, States have nodiscretion. States instead must immediately begin regulating their insurance markets andenforcing federal provisions such as the contraception mandate, without regard to their citizensreligious beliefs or conscientious objections.

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8/2/2019 AG Seeks to Intervene in EWTN Contraception Mandate Case

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EWTN is the worlds largest Catholic media network, and objects to the c ontraceptionmandate on religious grounds. Under the mandate, EWTN and other religious employers andinsurers are forced to provide health coverage for services and procedures that violate theirreligious beliefs and consciences. EWTN is represented in this lawsuit by The Becket Fund forReligious Liberty, a non-profit, public-interest legal and education institute that protects the free

expression of all faiths, headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Attorney General Strange filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit on the grounds that themandate requires Alabama to regulate its health insurance market in a way that violates the FirstAmendment to the U.S. Constitution, the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the AlabamaReligious Freedom Amendment, and other laws. Pursuant to the new healthcare law, known as theAffordable Care Act (ACA), the Secretaries of the U.S. Departments of Health & Human Services,Treasury, and Labor promulgated the contraception mandate as an interim final rule on August 3,2011 and as a final rule on February 15, 2012. As a final rule, the mandate is federal law that mustbe immediately followed.

Since religious employers and insurers cannot comply with the mandate on religiousand conscience-based grounds, the mandate forces them to choose among violating theirbeliefs, incurring substantial fines, or exiting the health insurance marketplace altogether.Alabama explained in its court filings that such an event will leave persons without insurance,forcing the State to pick up the tab. The States indigent care costs are likely to go up, as arethe States Medicaid rolls.

In the wake of public outcry, The White House had spoken of a compromise where insurerswould pay for the contraception coverage instead of the religious employers. However, themandate has not been amended to reflect the Administrations proposal. The proposal is not a

solution in any event. Based on the Departments statements, religious employers would still berequired to provide plans that cover services that violate their beliefs. And the proposal doesnothing to address the concerns of religious insurers who would be forced to cover the services.While they work out the details of the proposal, the Departments have stated that they willvoluntarily choose not to enforce the mandate for one year.

Attorney General Strange noted: The so-called compromise proposed by the ObamaAdministration isnt a compromise at all. The mandate is final. We only have the federalgovernments assuran ces that they will not enforce the mandate for a short period of time whilethey work out the details of a compromise rule that would still force religious insurers andemployers to provide coverage that violates their religious beliefs and consciences. The issue issimple: Either Alabamians and Americans around the country will be allowed to exercise theirreligious freedom to say no to something they disagree with, or they wont. We hope the ObamaAdministration will listen, and adopt a position that supports our first freedom rather thanundermines it.

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