Appeals court rules against Notre Dame in healthcare mandate fight

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today denied the University of Notre Dame’s request for immediate relief from Obamacare’s contraceptive and abortifacient mandate. It is the first time a lower court has refused to grant a temporary exemption to a non-profit based on the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Hobby Lobby case.

Notre Dame, a Roman Catholic college, is just one of many religious non-profit groups that object to the government’s demand they cover contraceptive drugs under their health insurance policies. In the Hobby Lobby ruling, the court said corporations held by one or just a few owners with strong religious objections to contraceptives or abortifacients could get an exemption from the mandate.

After issuing that ruling, the court asked several appeals courts that had ruled against non-profits to reconsider their decisions. The 7th Circuit’s denial of a temporary injunction sets the case up for a trial, but in the meantime, the school could appeal to the high court for emergency relief.

The Notre Dame case is somewhat unique because the school already complied with the government’s “fix” for non-profits, which allows them to fill out a form saying they object to the mandate. Once the government receives the form, the nonprofit’s insurance company takes over the responsibility for providing the contraceptive an abortifacient drugs.

Notre Dame filled out the form to avoid running afoul of a government deadline, but like other non-profits, it claims doing so makes it complicit in providing the drugs it finds objectionable. Its case and others like it probably will end up before the Supreme Court next term. The high court already has issued four temporary injunctions in favor of non-profits. Under those orders, non-profits are only required to send a letter to the government noting their objection to the mandate in order to obtain an exemption.