WASHINGTON, D.C. (03-01-2013) – Americans United for Life President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest announced that AUL filed its seventh amicus curiae brief defending First Amendment Freedom of Conscience against the Obama Administration’s “HHS mandate,” which forces employers to provide insurance coverage for life-ending drugs and devices in violation of the employers’ consciences and religious beliefs.
“Throughout the entire healthcare debate AUL voiced concerns that First Amendment freedoms could be trampled in Obamacare,” Dr. Yoest noted. “It is a foundational principle for all Americans that no one, including the government, can force us to commit an act that runs contrary to our conscientious or religious beliefs. Sadly, the Obama Administration is on the wrong side of this issue, arguing that a private family business must provide life-ending drugs to its employees. AUL’s legal team is standing with all Americans in defense of their basic freedoms.”
AUL filed the most recent brief in Newland v. Sebelius, a case filed by a family business in Colorado. The federal district court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and granted a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of the coercive mandate.
AUL’s brief demonstrates that “emergency contraception” can prevent an embryo from implanting or kill an already-implanted embryo, and that forcing employers to provide coverage for such drugs violates the constitutionally protected freedom of conscience.The brief was filed on behalf of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians & Gynecologists, Christian Medical Association, Catholic Medical Association, the National Catholic Bioethics Center, Physicians for Life, and National Association of Pro Life Nurses.AUL has been engaged in defending Americans’ First Amendment freedoms throughout the entire debate over healthcare.
To learn more, and to view AUL’s video “Who put the CON in contraception,” click here.
