A federal judge struck down a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Saturday, ruling that the newly implemented HHS contraception mandate does not infringe upon a Catholic business owner's First Amendment rights.
Missouri federal district court judge Carol E. Jackson ruled against O’Brien Industrial Holdings (OIH), a secular, for-profit company that does not qualify for the mandate's religious employer exemption, although the owner is Catholic. In her ruling, Jackson stated that “indirect financial support of a practice, from which a plaintiff himself abstains according to his religious principles” does not violate the owner’s freedom of religion.
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