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Latest Victory for Pro-Life Business Against Contraception Mandate

Pro-Life activists at the annual March for Life / AP
September 12, 2013

A pro-life family has won a legal victory against the Obama administration’s mandate that all businesses provide access to contraception, Life News reported on Wednesday.

The victory is the latest in a string of wins for pro-life supporters and organizations opposed to the mandate.

According to Life News:

Today’s victory comes in Armstrong v. Sebelius, a case initially filed in federal district court by the Armstrong family and their private Colorado business, Cherry Creek Mortgage Co.  The Armstrong family believes that life begins at conception and that drugs such as ella and other so-called "emergency contraceptives" result in the wrongful taking of human life.  However, under the Obama Administration’s mandate, this family-owned business will be forced to choose between providing insurance coverage for such life-ending drugs and devices disingenuously defined as "contraception" by the Food and Drug Administration, or paying prohibitive fines.

In May of this year, the district court declined to issue a preliminary injunction protecting the family and business’s consciences, meaning that they would be forced to comply with the coercive mandate while the litigation continues.  However, today the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision, and sent the case back to the district court for further action.

While upon further review the district court could still decide not to provide relief to the Armstrong family, today’s decision represents yet another "win" for freedom of conscience over the HHS Mandate.

Life News reported that courts have decided 32 cases on the contraception mandate involving for-profit businesses based on the merits. The pro-life businesses have won 26 times, while the administration has won only six.

"While the cases, including Armstrong, are far from over, the momentum is clearly in favor of freedom of conscience," Life News wrote.