WHEATON, Ill. — Evangelical school Wheaton College has joined the list of religious organizations suing to overturn the Obama administration’s abortion/contraceptive mandate, asserting in a new federal suit that the mandate for religious organizations is unconstitutional and “runs roughshod over Wheaton’s religious beliefs.”
The lawsuit was filed July 18, bringing to 24 the number of suits against a mandate that would require religious organizations to offer their employees insurance plans covering contraceptives, including abortion-causing drugs. Those drugs, often called morning-after pills and emergency contraceptives, come under various names, including Plan B and ella.
Illinois-based Wheaton is represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which said the suit was filed in partnership with Catholic University, a Washington-based school which previously filed suit against the mandate in May.
“Wheaton’s religious beliefs forbid it from participating in, providing access to, paying for, training others to engage in or otherwise supporting abortion,” the Wheaton suit states. It was filed in federal district court for the District of Columbia. “The government’s Mandate unconstitutionally coerces Wheaton to violate its deeply-held religious beliefs under threat of heavy fines and penalties.”
The mandate, the suit says, violates the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees of freedom of religion and freedom of speech. The mandate was handed down by the Department of Health and Human Services.
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