Life Legal Defense Foundation and Bioethics Defense Fund Present Argument Against HHS Mandate In Friend of the Court Brief
Contact: Tom Ciesielka, 312-422-1333, tc@tcpr.net
DETROIT, Sept. 28, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- A federal judge has agreed to consider a legal brief focusing on the danger that some contraceptives pose to women's health. The case, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan Southern Division against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and the U.S. Department of Labor, was brought by Legatus, a national organization of leading Catholic business CEOs and professional leaders, along with Michigan-based Weingartz Supply Company and its president, Legatus member Daniel Weingartz.
The court granted Life Legal Defense Foundation's (LLDF) and Bioethics Defense Fund's (BDF) motion to file an amicus curiae brief arguing against the controversial HHS mandate which requires all employers to provide insurance coverage for sterilization, and birth control, including those with abortifacient properties for their employees.
Respected legal organizations, LLDF and BDF bring to bear substantial evidence that hormonal contraceptives, rather than promoting the health and well-being of women and children, pose serious health risks to women. Some of the health hazards listed for the now mandatorily provided drugs include higher risk of heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular complications, greater susceptibility to sexually transmitted infections, higher risk of breast cancer, cervical cancer, and liver tumors.
LLDF Legal Director Catherine Short noted the import of the bench decision to consider LLDF's brief. "The HHS mandate purports to promote the health and well-being of people," she explained, "but the government is ignoring substantial evidence that hormonal contraceptives pose serious health risks to women. Before forcing employers to violate their religious convictions and pay for drugs which end human lives, the government has to show the mandate furthers a compelling public interest. Our brief demonstrates how far the government is from having met its burden of proof."
The brief further exposes the fact that contraceptives covered by the HHS mandate include Plan B and "ella." Since both drugs are on the approved HHS contraceptive list, and both can end the life of a human embryo, requiring plaintiffs to provide that choice to its employees violates their conscience rights under the First Amendment.
LINK TO AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF
Life Legal Defense Foundation was established in 1989, and is a nonprofit organization composed of attorneys and other concerned citizens, committed to giving helpless and innocent human beings of any age, and their advocates, a trained and committed voice in the courtrooms of our nation. For more information about the Life Legal Defense Foundation, visit www.lldf.org.
