On March 12, 2013, a for-profit company filed a lawsuit in the Middle District of Florida under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Administrative Procedure Act and First Amendment against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The plaintiff, represented by the public interest firm Thomas More Law Center, asked the court for an exception to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandate requiring employers to provide health insurance coverage for contraception. Specifically, the plaintiff claimed that providing insurance coverage for specific forms of contraception, including the morning-after pill and the intrauterine device (IUD), would violate the religious beliefs of the corporation's owners. The plaintiff also asked that the court declare the contraception insurance mandate to be unconstitutional.

On March 13, 2013, the plaintiff filed a motion for preliminary injunction. The defendant opposed this motion on the grounds that the plaintiff had not suffered harm upon which relief can be granted. Defendant argued that the plaintiff, as a corporation, cannot exercise religion and cannot suffer a violation of its religious beliefs. On June 25, 2013, United States District Court (Judge Elizabeth A. Kovachevich) granted the plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction.

On August 22, 2013, the defendant appealed this order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Oral arguments in the appellate court are scheduled for the week of April 28, 2014. As of January 28, 2014, the appeal is ongoing.

Mallory Jones - 01/28/2014


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