Court protects Christian groups from Obamacare mandate

A U.S. district court on Tuesday ordered the federal government not to enforce the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive and abortifacient mandate against six Christian organizations represented by Alliance Defending Freedom. The order also declares that the mandate violates the organizations’ rights protected by the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The organizations—the Association of Christian Schools International, Samaritan Ministries International, Taylor University, Indiana Wesleyan University, Asbury Theological Seminary, and ADF—specifically objected to providing coverage for abortifacients.

Other U.S. district courts have issued similar orders in recent months for Christian organizations across the country. The decisions follow moves by President Donald Trump’s administration to provide religious nonprofit groups with a satisfactory exemption to the rule. The exemption was finalized last month.