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An appeals court panel temporarily prevented the U.S. government from enforcing a part of the Affordable Care Act requiring coverage for contraception after Catholic groups challenged the requirement.
(MLive File)
LANSING -- The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals granted Michigan's Catholic churches a temporary halt to the contraception coverage mandate in the Affordable Care Act after a trial judge declined to issue an injunction.
An appeals panel voted 2-1 in a Dec. 31 order to grant a preliminary injunction against government enforcement of the mandate pending a full appeal. Chief Judge Alice Batchelder, a Reagan appointee, and Senior Judge Eugene Siler, a George H.W. Bush appointee, supported granting the injunction, while Judge Jane Stranch, an Obama appointee, dissented.
The four-page order highlights a number of conflicting rulings on the same issue in federal trial courts across the country, including decisions from other courts in the Sixth Circuit, which covers Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Lawyers for the Michigan Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the state's Catholic churches, and Catholic Charities, sought the appellate ruling after Judge Gordon Quist issued an opinion Dec. 27 denying an injunction blocking the mandate.
The groups have alleged the mandate violates protections for religious freedom under the U.S. Constitution and federal law. The Affordable Care Act already exempts churches from the contraception requirement, and provides an "accommodation" for religiously affiliated groups like Catholic Charities to avoid the requirement by certifying the coverage would violate their religious tenets.
In order to exercise the accommodation, Catholic Charities would be required to tell the company managing its insurance coverage that it would not cover contraception, an action Justice Department lawyers have argued the organization would take anyway.
Government attorneys had also argued that under federal law, they lacked authority to enforce the provision against the company managing insurance coverage for Catholic Charities even after certification.
"While yesterday's decision is a preliminary ruling, and the merits of the case are soon to be considered, Michigan Catholic Conference is hopeful that the final disposition of this case will support religious freedom and rights of conscience," the group announced in a statement on Jan. 1 following the injunction.
The decision by the Sixth Circuit was one of several rulings issued by federal judges before the start of the new year, as Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued an emergency stay on behalf of a Colorado-based Catholic group and the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals separately issued an injunction on behalf of Catholic groups in Washington.
Brian Smith is the statewide education and courts reporter for MLive. Email him at bsmith11@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter or Facebook.