HHS Contraception Edict Likely to be Ruled Unconstitutional if Not Overturned by Congress, Legal Expert Says

Even Jesus’ Earthly Ministry Would Run Afoul of New HHS Rule, Says New National Center for Public Policy Research Paper

Washington, D.C. – National Center for Public Policy Research Adjunct Fellow Horace Cooper is criticizing HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for pushing a new health care mandate that forces church-supported soup kitchens, schools, and other charities to provide coverage for contraception, sterilization procedures and early abortifacients to all of their employees as part of their insurance plans.

“The new HHS rule represents a radical departure from the traditional treatment of religious organizations in America,” says Horace Cooper of the National Center for Public Policy Research. “If the White House doesn’t overturn this regulation, the Courts will.”

Cooper, a legal commentator who taught constitutional law at George Mason University, is the author of the just-released “The Birth Control Mandate is Unconstitutional” published by the National Center.

Cooper notes that a unanimous decision of the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed relevant religious freedom protections only a few weeks ago in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church v. EEOC.

“This regulation is a cruel use of federal power that rejects over 200 years of understanding about religious freedom in America,” said Cooper. “It furthermore threatens our long-held belief that all Americans may worship and serve God free from governmental interference. This assault on religious liberty is shockingly out of touch with the value that Americans place on their religious freedom, the Founding principles of the First Amendment, and a litany of legal precedent that was reaffirmed by a unanimous Supreme Court only a few weeks ago.”

“No American, employer or worker, should be forced to choose between their religious precepts and obedience to the law,” added Cooper. “It’s beyond bizarre to argue that the only way to ensure that the ‘morning after’ pill or other abortifacients are available is to force religious organizations to pay for them.”

“And the so-called religious exemption is an insult masquerading as a joke,” Cooper said. “Indeed, many Christians may wonder whether even Jesus’ earthly ministry would satisfy the Administration’s ham-fisted exemption requirements.”

Cooper explains that religious schools, charities, and health care providers will be forced to choose between the moral dictates of their conscience and creed, or following the President’s health care mandate-of-the-month. Such a choice is antithetical to the freedom of religion rooted in our constitutional tradition, and the fundamental protections of the First Amendment, Cooper says.

Cooper’s new paper, “The Birth Control Mandate is Unconstitutional,” is available online at https://nationalcenter.org/NPA632.html.

Horace Cooper is an adjunct fellow with the National Center for Public Policy Research, a member of the African-American leadership group Project 21 and a legal commentator. He taught constitutional law at George Mason University in Virginia and was a senior counsel to U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey.

The National Center For Public Policy Research (https://nationalcenter.org) is a conservative, free-market, non-profit think-tank established in 1982. It is supported by the voluntary gifts of over 100,000 individual recent supporters, receiving about one percent of its revenue from corporate sources. Contributions to it are tax-deductible.

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The National Center for Public Policy Research is a communications and research foundation supportive of a strong national defense and dedicated to providing free market solutions to today’s public policy problems. We believe that the principles of a free market, individual liberty and personal responsibility provide the greatest hope for meeting the challenges facing America in the 21st century.