St. Louis, Mo., Mar 15, 2012 / 15:36 pm
A Missouri business owner has become the first employer of a for-profit, secular company to bring a lawsuit challenging the Obama administration’s contraception mandate.
“Religious liberty is not limited to institutions,” said attorney Francis J. Manion, who says his client believes the administration is forcing him to violate his conscience under the new federal rule.
Manion told CNA on March 15 that the lawsuit is important for private business owners because it asserts that “they too have religious rights, and the government has to respect those rights under the Constitution.”
The most recent lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was filed March 15 in a federal district court in St. Louis.