UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME SUES OBAMA ADMIN OVER CONTRACEPTIVE MANDATE
By: Billy Hallowell – The Blaze – May 21, 2012
EXCERPT:
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (The Blaze/AP) — In the latest flap surrounding a contentious mandate, the University of Notre Dame is joining dioceses, among other institutions, in suing Obama administration officials over the requirement that most employers cover birth control.
This is the second major development to occur surrounding the mandate in recent days. Last Wednesday, Franciscan University, a Catholic institution in Steubensville, Ohio, claimed that Obamacare has forced the school to end its student heath insurance program. The massive health care overhaul, the university says, has led to cost increases that no longer make offering the program a viable possibility.
(Related: Catholic University Drops Student Health Care Plan Over Contraceptive Mandate)
On Monday, Notre Dame, equally disenchanted with the plan, said that the mandate violates religious freedom by requiring many religiously affiliated hospitals, schools and charities to comply. President Barack Obama offered to soften the mandate to accommodate religious groups, but U.S. Roman Catholic bishops say the change doesn’t go far enough.
