The suit claims the contraceptive mandate required by the nation’s health-care overhaul is “in violation of the centuries’ old teachings of the Catholic Church.”
“Plaintiff’s genuinely held religious beliefs dictate that it is unacceptable to support, pay for, provide, and/or facilitate abortion, sterilization, or the use of contraceptives as these services are contrary to Catholic Doctrine,” the suit said.
Joining the lawsuit are Father Ryan High School, Pope John Paul II High School, Catholic Charities and Aquinas College. Also included are Mary Queen of Angels, Villa Maria Manor and St. Mary Villa. Each is incorporated and operates independently.
The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Middle Tennessee, joins a growing list of similar legal actions challenging the reproductive health-care requirements of the Affordable Care Act since the rules were first written in August 2011.
At least 28 suits have been filed so far on behalf of 88 religious schools, hospitals and other entities, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.
Another suit was filed Wednesday in Oklahoma City by Hobby Lobby Stores, the largest non-Catholic business to join in challenging the contraceptive requirements. The chain’s owners have said they operate the company on Christian principles.
Three of the cases have already been dismissed.
The rest continue to work their way through the courts.
“All of these cases are going to keep working their way through the courts, but a number of factors could still happen,” said Emily Hardman, communications director for the Becket Fund. “If there’s a turnover in the election, there’s a likelihood this (health-care plan) would be overturned. If not, these cases will keep going and we’ll just have to see what happens.”
The Affordable Care Act requires all group health insurance plans to cover FDA-approved contraceptive measures, sterilization procedures and counseling for women.
FDA-approved drugs include the morning-after pill that women take after unprotected intercourse — a medication that Catholic groups and others consider an abortifacient.
The Catholic Diocese chose to file suit this week because three institutions had recently discovered they would have to comply with the health-care plan immediately, said Rick Musacchio, director of communications for the Diocese of Nashville.
Mary Queen of Angels and Villa Maria Manor, which provide housing for seniors, and child-care provider St. Mary Villa all share the same plan. Administrators discovered late last year that oral contraception was — unknown to them — included among their health benefits.
When they tried to remove those services from their plan, the insurance carrier, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Tennessee, said the coverage had to be included because of the new law, which was finalized on Feb. 15, 2012, Musacchio said.
When they renewed their insurance with Blue Cross/Blue Shield on Aug. 1, they were required to continue offering the unwanted services to employees.
The Diocese and other entities will face the same issue when their plans come up for renewal next year, Musacchio said.
“Because of the mandates enacted by the Department of Health and Human Services, they have been unable to establish broad health insurance coverage for their employees consistent with Catholic beliefs,” Musacchio said. “Currently they have to include services that are morally objectionable.”
The suit says the issue is not about whether people have a right to abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization and contraception.
“Those services are and will continue to be freely available in the United States, and nothing prevents the Government itself from making them more widely available,” the suit says.
“But the right to such services does not authorize the Government to force the Plaintiffs to violate their own consciences by making them provide, pay for, and/or facilitate those services to others, contrary to their sincerely held religious beliefs.”
Columbus, Ohio-based Jones Day law firm filed the suit on behalf of the Catholic groups in Nashville.
The firm is behind at least a dozen of the challenges brought against the contraceptive mandate by Catholic agencies and diocese in Illinois, New York, Washington, D.C., Missouri, North Dakota, Michigan and other states.