(Bloomberg) — The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s mandate requiring employee insurance plans to provide coverage of contraception has been blocked by a federal judge in Michigan.
Tom Monaghan and his property-management company, Domino’s Farms Corp., sued the U.S. government in December, contending that complying with the mandate would require him to violate his religious beliefs as a member of the Catholic Church. Domino’s Farms would have to provide contraceptive products, including an abortion-inducing drug, or be forced to pay $200,000 a year as a tax or penalty, the plaintiffs say.
U.S. District Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff issued a preliminary injunction last week, finding Domino’s Farms and Monaghan could be irreparably harmed
“Denying plaintiffs’ motion will result in a substantial burden on Monaghan’s right to free exercise of religion, since the mandate requires him to choose whether to comply and violate his beliefs, or accept the financial consequences of not doing so,” Zatkoff says in the 20-page decision.
“Such an infringement upon plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights — even for a short time — constitutes irreparable injury,” Zatkoff writes.
Bradley Humphreys, a Justice Department attorney in Washington, D.C., didn’t immediately return a call for comment on the decision.
Zatkoff had issued a temporary restraining order in December blocking implementation of the mandate. Monaghan and Domino’s Farms asked the judge to convert the temporary order into a preliminary injunction, which would stay in force pending appeal.
The United States opposed that request, contending that “the relevant question” was whether Monaghan’s religious beliefs were “substantially burdened by a regulation that applies only to the health plan of a wholly separate legal entity,” according to court papers.
“By treating Mr. Monaghan and Domino’s Farms as one and the same, the court ignored the layers of legal separation between Mr. Monaghan and the corporation, only the latter of which is responsible for providing health coverage that includes contraceptive coverage,” Justice Department lawyers said in a Jan. 28 filing.
The U.S. Supreme Court
The post-Supreme Court ruling suits include one filed by Michigan and six other states that was dismissed and is now on appeal, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette says. Schuette filed a brief with Zatkoff’s court supporting Monaghan and Domino’s Farms.
“Any rule, regulation or law that forces American employers to violate their free exercise of religion is a violation of the First Amendment,” Schuette says.
The case is Domino’s Farms Corp. v. Sebelius, 12-cv-15488, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit).
