Federal Court Tells Obama Administration To Re-Write Contraceptive Mandate
In a case brought against the Obamacare mandate for contraceptive coverage, the Obama administration has argued that the suit is invalid because a) they would never enforce the mandate and b) they’re going to re-write it anyway.
The court ruled on that argument, and didn’t give it a lot of credence ordering that the mandate be rewritten:
The Obama administration “represented to the court that it would never enforce [the mandate] in its current form against the appellants or those similarly situated as regards contraceptive services,” the three judges hearing the case wrote in their order. The Obama team made that promise during oral arguments against Wheaton College and The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which sued over the contraception mandate but lost at the lower court level.
“There will, the government said, be a different rule for entities like the appellants . . . We take the government at its word and will hold it to it,” the judges wrote. They ruled that the Obama administration must rewrite the regulation by August 2013 and provide updates to the court every 60 days. If the government fails to do so, the lawsuits may proceed.
The court also noted that the Obama administration had not made such an expansive pledge outside the courtroom.
As the article notes, if the policy isn’t changed, the court will allow the lawsuit challenging it to go forward.
So, expect some movement on this issue from the Obama administration next year.
Tags: Barack Obama, contraception, obamacare
