Chicago, Ill., May 8, 2012 / 23:33 pm
Legatus, a national organization of leading Catholic business CEOs and professional leaders, has filed a federal lawsuit against the HHS mandate that requires insurance coverage for contraception and sterilization.
“This is a case about religious freedom,” the lawsuit’s 42-page complaint began. It charges that the mandate “forces employers and individuals to violate their religious beliefs because it requires employers and individuals to pay for insurance from insurance issuers which fund and directly provide for drugs, devices, and services” that they believe are sinful.
The lawsuit specifically cites Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical “Humanae Vitae,” which condemned contraception, abortion and abortifacients as a grave sin.
The Ann Arbor-based Thomas More Law Center filed the lawsuit on Legatus’ behalf in the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The Michigan-based Weingartz Supply Company and its president, Legatus member Daniel Weingartz, have joined the lawsuit.