Obama Administration Gives Up Forcing Bible Publisher to Obey HHS Mandate

Religion Today | Updated: May 07, 2013

Obama Administration Gives Up Forcing Bible Publisher to Obey HHS Mandate

In a huge victory for pro-life advocates taking on the controversial HHS mandate, the Obama administration is giving up its effort to force a Bible publisher to obey it, LifeNews.com reports. The mandate has generated massive opposition from pro-life groups because it forces employers, regardless of their religious or moral convictions, to provide insurance coverage for abortion-inducing drugs, contraception and sterilization under threat of heavy penalties. The Obama administration had opposed an order a judge gave to temporarily stop enforcement of the mandate for Tyndale House Publishers, arguing that the business wasn't religious enough for an exemption. But on Friday, at the Obama administration's request, a federal appellate court dismissed its appeal. The administration's retreat marks the first total appellate victory on a preliminary injunction in any abortion pill mandate case. According to Alliance Defending Freedom lawyers representing Tyndale, the administration was apparently nervous about trying to defend its position that a Bible publisher wasn't religious enough for a religious exemption from the mandate. ADF attorneys and allied attorneys are also currently litigating nine other lawsuits against the mandate; more than 100 have been filed in total.



Obama Administration Gives Up Forcing Bible Publisher to Obey HHS Mandate