Wyoming diocese, college file suit against HHS mandate

January 31, 2014

The Diocese of Cheyenne, Wyoming Catholic College, and other Catholic organizations in Wyoming have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the HHS mandate.

“The mandate requires all plaintiffs except the diocese to authorize an insurance provider or third-party administrator to provide the objectionable coverage to their employees, and to take numerous additional steps to ensure that their health plans serve as a conduit for the delivery of that coverage,” said Bishop Paul Etienne. “I as a pastor must look to the best interests of the people and ministries of the Church entrusted to my care. The requirements of the HHS mandate that these religious organizations, through our group health plan, or through a third party administrator, provide access to these morally objectionable services is morally unacceptable.”

“In the face of an oppressive law that runs roughshod over the most fundamental of our rights—religious liberty—we find ourselves with no other avenue to follow in order to avoid providing contraceptives and abortifacients—practices that are utterly antithetical to our religious beliefs,” said Kevin Roberts, the college’s president. “As a historian of the Founding of the United States, I know full well the importance of guarding these freedoms against oppression, which is why I believe that the College has no recourse but to seek a legal injunction.”

 

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Further information:

• Wyo. Catholic groups buck feds on birth control (AP)
• College Joins Diocese of Cheyenne's Complaint Against HHS Mandate (Wyoming Catholic College)