Religious Groups Still Oppose Health Law | Health and Fitness

By Daniel Lippman

Supporters and protesters gather in front of the U.S. Supreme Court to find out the ruling on the Affordable Health Act on Thursday. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The Supreme Court?s decision on the Obama health care law hasn?t changed the view of religious groups that oppose some of its provisions.

Both the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued statements saying Thursday?s decision didn?t address their? First Amendment concerns and other worries about the law. A big issue is a requirement that most employers provide contraceptive services at no cost to employees as part of their health insurance plans.

At the Becket Fund, a public interest law firm, senior counsel Hannah Smith said the organization?s lawsuits representing three schools and a Christian broadcaster, will continue. ?The court?s opinion today did not decide the issues in our cases,? Ms. Smith said. ?We are challenging the Health and Human Services mandate on religious liberty grounds which are not part of today?s decision.?

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Nearly two dozen lawsuits have been filed seeking expansion of the conscience protection provisions of the regulations carrying out the 2010 law.

She said the contraceptive requirement would force ?individuals to violate their deeply held religious beliefs or pay a severe fine, a fine which could force many homeless shelters, charities, and religious institutions to shut their doors.?

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The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which has raised its own set of concerns about the law, urged Congress to fix it.? It cited three areas of concern: the HHS mandate on birth control,? use of federal funds to pay for elective abortions, and unfair treatment of illegal immigrants because they would be excluded from buying health insurance in the new exchanges that are being set up.

Article source: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/06/28/religious-groups-still-oppose-health-law/

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