23 May 2012 National Center Welcomes First Amendment Lawsuits Filed Against Contraception Mandate

Washington, D.C. – The National Center for Public Policy issued the following statement concerning the forty-three Catholic dioceses and organizations across the country that have announced religious liberty lawsuits against the federal government challenging the Obama administration’s contraception mandate.

“When the White House and HHS first put forward this mandate, we argued that it was a violation of the First Amendment. And we explained that it was a ‘radical departure’ from the traditional deference given to religious organizations,” says Horace Cooper of the National Center for Public Policy Research. “Instead of pulling it back, this Administration doubled down. Now that this is headed to federal court, I’ll say again, 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 Birth Control Mandate is Unconstitutional,” published by the National Center earlier this year.

Cooper notes that in a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court this year reaffirmed relevant religious freedom protections in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church v. EEOC.

“This administration is rejecting over 200 years of commitment to religious freedom and tolerance in America,” said Cooper. “They are wrong on the law and on policy and their actions threaten our nation’s long-held consensus that all Americans are free to worship and serve God free from governmental interference.”

Cooper concluded, “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 reaffirmed as recently as this year by the Supreme Court.”

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 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. In 2011 it received over 350,000 individual donations. Two percent of its revenue comes from corporate sources. Contributions to it are tax-deductible.

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