The Patriot Post® · Appeals Court Sides With Religious Liberty

This isn’t a situation where working out reasonable accommodations is the preferred solution. Unlike its case against Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, who, as a government employee, has a duty to issue marriage licenses, the state has no legitimate reason to compel private companies and workers to violate their religious beliefs. On Thursday, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that ObamaCare’s contraceptive mandate, even with its exemption for religious organizations, violates Americans’ religious Liberty. Three schools and one ministry based across Iowa and Missouri had sued the federal government, arguing that its workaround — requiring that religious employers make contraceptive services available for their employees although not forcing them to pay for it directly — still violated their consciences. Circuit Judge Roger Wollman, who wrote the court’s opinion, agreed, writing that the government must respect the religious groups’ “sincere religious belief that their participation in the accommodation process makes them morally and spiritually complicit in providing abortifacient coverage.” Religious Liberty won this round. But as Reuters reports, this question will eventually arrive before the Supreme Court.