A federal court has granted an injunction protecting Protestant
Christian Bible publisher Tyndale House Publishers from the Department
of Health and Human Services mandate that requires it to provide
insurance coverage for abortion-causing contraceptives.
U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said Nov. 16 that the mandate
“affirmatively compels the plaintiffs to violate their religious beliefs
in order to comply with the law and avoid the sanctions that would be
imposed for their noncompliance.”
The judge, an appointee of George W. Bush for the U.S. District Court
for the District of Columbia, said the government has not proven that
mandating Tyndale provide the coverage furthers the government’s
compelling interests in promoting public health.
“First Amendment rights are among the most precious rights guaranteed under the Constitution,” his decision said.
The Carol Stream, Ill.-based company has 260 full-time employees. It is
the largest privately held Christian publisher of books, Bibles and
digital media in the world. The 50-year-old business directs over 95
percent of its profits to religious non-profit causes.
The company provides its employees with some coverage for
contraception, but objects to requirements that it provide drugs that
may cause abortions.
The D.C.-based legal group Alliance Defending Freedom is representing
the company and its president and chief executive Mark D. Taylor.
“Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book
that they publish,” the group’s senior legal counsel Matt Bowman said
Nov. 16. “The court has done the right thing in halting the mandate
while our lawsuit moves forward.”
The Obama administration opposed the injunction on the grounds that the
publisher does not meet its religious exemption qualifications. That
exemption applies only to non-profit organizations that primarily employ
and serve people of their own religion, and that have instilling
religious values as their primary purpose.
“For the government to say that a Bible publisher is not religious is
startling,” Bowman said. “It demonstrates how clearly the Obama
administration is willing to disregard the Constitution’s protection of
religious freedom to achieve certain political purposes.”
The court’s opinion said that Christian principles, prayer and
activities are “pervasive” at Tyndale and its ownership structure is
“designed to ensure that it never strays from its faith-oriented
mission.”
It noted that the company’s primary owner is the non-profit Tyndale House Foundation.
Legal challenges against the mandate are proceeding in federal courts
across the country.
There are at least 40 cases with over 110
plaintiffs, including Catholic dioceses, charities, universities, and
health care systems. Several Protestant colleges and other businesses
have also filed suit.
The suits contend that the mandate violates the U.S. Constitution and federal religious freedom protection laws.
While the Obama administration has proposed a broader religious
accommodation, its details and acceptability to objectors are still
unclear.
The Obama administration has also fought against proposed
legislation to broaden the religious exemption and President Obama’s
re-election campaign attacked his Republican rival Mitt Romney for
supporting the proposed exemptions.