Miami Archdiocese sues government over Obamacare

Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami filed a lawsuit against the federal government on Friday over the government's requirement for religious groups to provide contraceptives, charging that the mandate violates the constitutional freedom of religion.

"I am defending religious freedom for the Catholic Church and its many ministries," said Wenski in a news conference at the Pastoral Center in Miami Shores, hub for the Archdiocese of Miami. "The mandate jeopardizes our freedom to serve in a way congruent to our consciences and the moral teachings of our faith."

The Obama administration has issued standards for healthcare insurers under its Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, including a mandate to provide contraceptives to clients. Wenski and other bishops have said that it would also force them to pay for sterilizations and abortion-inducing drugs. All the products are against Roman Catholic teachings.

Wenski said he filed the lawsuit not only against the federal Department of Health and Human Services but against its secretary, Kathleen Sebelius; Timothy Geithner, secretary of the treasury; and Hilda Solis, secretary of labor.

The lawsuit accuses them of violating the establishment, free speech and free exercise clauses of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It also charges the government with violating the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The Obama administration offered what it called a compromise, requiring church insurers to pay for contraceptives themselves instead of having the churches do so. Wenski said the compromise wouldn't solve the problem for self-insured bodies like his archdiocese.

He and others added that the HHS contraception mandate covers only formal church organizations, not church outreaches like schools, hospitals and charities. 

In South Florida, Lauderdale Lakes-based Catholic Health Services serves 5,000 people a day, nearly half of them non-Catholic.

To qualify for exemption, "We would have to have nearly 100 percent Catholic employees and serve nearly 100 percent Catholic clients," said Joseph M. Catania, president of Catholic Health Services, who attended the Friday news conference. "That would force us to close our doors."

Friday's legal action follows those of about 50 other Catholic organizations, including schools, charities, hospitals and other dioceses filed over the last six months, seeking to overturn the federal mandate.

During the news conference, Wenski was asked whether the lawsuit infringed on the separation of church and state. He denied it.

"We're trying to protect ourselves from the violation of that principle," he said. "The state is trying to dictate to the church how we practice our faith. This we cannot allow to stand."