Ave Maria schools get contraceptive reprieve
Leaders of Ave Maria University and Ave Maria School of Law felt both victorious and relieved Tuesday at the news that a federal court had granted them a reprieve from providing contraceptive coverage for employees.
Time was ticking down to Nov. 1, the deadline at which the Catholic university and Catholic law school in Southwest Florida could no longer hold off on providing the coverage required by the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The court's action allows the university to avoid about $17 million in annual fines.
"We're very pleased that we received the preliminary injunction," said Kevin Cieply, president and dean of the law school. "It's a big relief off of my mind." The ruling came four days short of the deadline, but Cieply said the school had no preliminary inkling as to which way it would go. "We were hopeful and we were praying for this result," he said. "We had a Mass yesterday specially dedicated to
The schools say they object to the contraception provision because of the religious convictions they were built on. In court papers granting the preliminary injunction, both schools said they believe that abortion is a grave sin that ends human life, and that religious convictions forbid them from providing contraception, sterilization, or "abortifacient" products in employee healthcare plans.
The controversial Obamacare requirement to provide contraception services prompted 43 lawsuits filed by religious and faith-based organizations across the country, including Ave Maria and the law school, which are two separate entities.
Jim Towey, university president, was ebullient in a written statement: "This is a huge victory for religious freedom and the right of Ave Maria University to exercise its lawful religious liberty," he said. "This may be the beginning of the end for the Obamacare mandate as the ripple effect of this decision will be felt in the scores of other cases pending in the federal court system."
The university has about 170 full-time employees, and fines would have amounted to about $17 million, Towey said. The law school has 68 employees, Cieply said. Donna Heiser, law school spokeswoman, said she could not estimate the amount of fines, but that they would be "massive."
The preliminary injunction was requested in September. Until then, the government exempted the schools and other faith-based entities from providing free birth control until government and religious institutions could hammer out a solution that would resolve religious objections.
Previously, the university's lawsuit was suspended in December 2013 by a federal judge, pending the U.S. Supreme Court decision on a similar lawsuit filed by Hobby Lobby chain stores. On June 30, the court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby, saying closely held corporations with religious owners can't be required to pay for contraception in health insurance plans.
The university's lawsuit reopened.
Meanwhile, the government came out with new interim regulations Aug. 22 that said entities refusing to comply on religious grounds should provide the name of their insurance company. Then the insurance company would provide the coverage. But Towey said the regulations required the school to be "complicit" in the act of supplying contraception.
The preliminary injunction awarded Tuesday will last until the resolution of another case in the 11th Circuit Court in Atlanta, brought by the Eternal World Television Network Inc., Cieply said.
He said reaction by law school employees to Tuesday's news has been positive. "Walking down the hall, I got high fives from people."