The Supreme Court has revived a Christian college’s challenge to President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul, with the acquiescence of the Obama administration.
The court on Monday ordered the federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., to consider the claim by Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., that Obama’s health care law violates the school’s religious freedoms.
A federal district judge rejected Liberty’s claims, and the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the lawsuit was premature and never dealt with the substance of the school’s arguments. The Supreme Court upheld the health care law in June.
The justices used lawsuits filed by 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business to uphold the health care law by a 5-4 vote, then rejected all other pending appeals, including Liberty’s.
The school made a new filing with the court over the summer to argue that its claims should be fully evaluated in light of the high court decision. The administration said it did not oppose Liberty’s request.
The appeals court could ask the government and the college for new legal briefs to assess the effect of the Supreme Court ruling on Liberty’s claims before rendering a decision.
Liberty’s case joins dozens of other pending lawsuits over health reform, many involving the requirement that employer insurance plans cover contraception, which are working their way through the federal court system.
(AP)
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6 Responses
What’s the big deal. If the Obamacare law was rejected on constitutional grounds (between taxation power or commerce clause), who cares whether it also violates the First amendment. Even if Liberty College had fully won, it wouldn’t have affected the overall issue as to whether Obamacare was constitutional since the issue is quite narrow (whether someone can object to paying for a given service, and implications that flow from that). Since the larger issue was settled, they still have to litigate the first amendment issue.
Given that contraception costs so little, especially relative to cost of obstetrical care, most employers and most insurance will gladly pay for contraceptives (and frankly would gladly pay for abortions if they could – since kiling babies is cheaper than delivering them).
I hope they throw out obamacare and get America moving
Au contraire Akuperma…even if the Court had thrown out the Health Reform Act largely on other grounds it could also have addressed the “religious freedom” issue. And while I am very opposed to abortion, I think your “killing babies” wisecrack is irrelevant and diminishes your seriousness.
YITZCHOKY: The only issue is whether there should be some sort of religious exemption pertaining to insurance covering things such as abortion or contraception. The only way to end Obamacare would have been at the polls, and the American people decided to keep it (for better or worse).
YonasonW,
If abortion is not baby killing, what is it?
The problem with you liberals ois that in order to take the “horribleness” out of something really really bad, you change the name. Well, too bad on you! Abortion IS baby murder!
“Killing babies” is not a wisecrack, it’s calling a spade a spade. That’s what abortion is. Cold-blooded murder. Get this through your head: you have no more right to life than an unborn baby. None. If it’s OK to kill that baby then it’s equally OK to kill you.