Catholic Benefits Ass'n LCA v. Sebelius

24 F. Supp. 3d 1094, 2014 WL 2522357, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75949
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Oklahoma
DecidedJune 4, 2014
DocketCase No. CIV-14-240-R
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 24 F. Supp. 3d 1094 (Catholic Benefits Ass'n LCA v. Sebelius) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Catholic Benefits Ass'n LCA v. Sebelius, 24 F. Supp. 3d 1094, 2014 WL 2522357, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75949 (W.D. Okla. 2014).

Opinion

ORDER

DAVID L. RUSSELL, District Judge.

Before the Court is Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction. Doc. No. 4. Defendants have filed their response to this motion, and Plaintiffs have filed their reply to Defendants’ response. The American Civil Liberties Union has also filed an amicus brief opposing Plaintiffs’ motion. On May 8, 2014, the Court heard oral argument pertaining to the issues raised by the parties’ briefs. Following oral argument, the Court granted Defendants time in which to file a supplemental brief concerning a particular issue that was raised by Plaintiffs for the first time in their reply brief. Having considered all of the above, as well as the relevant legal authority that is developing across the country, Plaintiffs’ motion is DENIED in part, and GRANTED in part.

[1097]*1097This motion stems from an action challenging a provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)1 and the regulations issued under it, which mandate that certain employers provide health coverage for contraceptives to their employees, or face crippling fines for failing to do so. Plaintiffs are a number of entities that readily identify with the Catholic Church and adhere to its teachings, and they assert that the contraceptive mandate violates their sincerely held religious beliefs. Plaintiffs have brought this action against Kathleen Se-belius, Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services,2 along with other government officials and agencies, advancing a number of statutory and constitutional challenges to the contraceptive mandate. In the present motion, Plaintiffs seek a preliminary injunction against Defendants’ collective ability to enforce the contraceptive mandate against them, basing their motion upon the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and the Establishment Clause. Plaintiffs also seek preliminary injunctive relief extending beyond the named parties in order to protect a putative class of similarly situated entities.

I. Background

Plaintiffs are The Catholic Benefits Association LCA (CBA), The Catholic Insurance Company (CIC), The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City (Archdiocese of Oklahoma City), Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, Inc. (Catholic Charities), All Saints Catholic School, Inc. (All Saints), Archbishop William E. Lori, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore and His Successors in Office (Archdiocese of Baltimore), The Cathedral Foundation, Inc. d/b/a/ Catholic Review Media (Catholic Review Media), Villa St. Francis Catholic Care Center, Inc. (Villa St. Francis), and Good Will Publishers, Inc. (Good Will Publishers). Plaintiffs are heavily associated with the Catholic Church, and they adhere to Catholic teachings regarding contraception, abortion, and sterilization, which counsel against the use of any artificial interference with the creation arid nurture of new life. Therefore, Plaintiffs all religiously object to contraception, abortion-inducing drugs .and devices, surgical abortion, sterilization, and related counseling.

Under 42 U.S.C. § 300gg-13(a)(4), certain employer health plans must cover “preventive care and screenings”'for women. Based upon the guidelines adopted by the Health Resources and Services Administration, “preventive care” includes “[a]ll Food and Drug Administration approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling for all women with reproductive capacity.”3 Health Resources & Services Administration, “Women’s Preventive Services Guidelines,” www.hrsa.gov/ womensguidelines (last visited June 3, [1098]*10982014). If an employer subject to the contraceptive mandate fails to provide the.required contraceptive coverage in its health plan, then the employer faces fines of $100 per day per employee, or in other words, up to $36,500 per year per employee. See 26 U.S.C. § 4980D(b)(l). Further, if the employer fails to provide any health plan whatsoever to its employees, the employer faces fines of $2,000 per year per full time employee (less 30 employees). Id. § 4980H(a), (c)(1).

The regulations issued under the contraceptive mandate operate to exempt certain employers, as well as provide an accommodation for other non-exempt employers. Under 45 C.F.R. § 147.131(a), “religious employers” are exempted from the contraceptive mandate. For purposes of the regulations, “religious employer” is narrowly defined as a nonprofit entity referred to in 26 U.S.C. § 6033(a)(3)(A)(i) or (iii). See 45 C.F.R. § 147.131(a); 78 Fed.Reg. 39,870, 39,874. The groups referred to in 26 U.S.C. § 6033(a)(3)(A)(i) and (iii) include “churches, their integrated auxiliaries, and conventions or associations of churches,” and “the exclusively religious activities of any religious order.”

The regulations further provide for an accommodation for certain non-exempt employers who do not want to provide coverage for the required contraceptive services based upon religious objections. A non-exempt employer is eligible for this so-called accommodation if it satisfies the following requirements: (1) it opposes providing coverage for some or all of the required contraceptive services due to religious objections; (2). it is a nonprofit entity; (3) it “holds itself out as a religious organization;” and (4) it “self-certifies, in a form and manner specified by the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and Labor, that it satisfies the [previous three] criteria.” 26 C.F.R. § 54.9815-2713A(a); 29 C.F.R. § 2590.715-2713A(a); 45 C.F.R. § 147.131(b); 78 Fed.Reg. at 39,874.

In order to meet this last requirement, self-certification, an employer must execute .and deliver EBSA Form 700 to its issuer, or if the employer has a self-insured health plan, to its third-party administrator (TPA). 26 C.F.R. § 54.9815-2713A(b)-(c); 29 C.F.R. § 2590.715-2713A(b)-(c); 45 C.F.R. § 147.131(c); 78 Fed.Reg. at 39,878-79. If a nonprofit religious employer executes and delivers EBSA Form 700 to its issuer or TPA, the issuer or TPA must then provide notice to the employer’s employees of the availability of contraceptive services free of charge, as well as provide contraceptive services to these employees. 26 C.F.R. § 54.9815-2713A(b)-(d); 29 C.F.R.

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24 F. Supp. 3d 1094, 2014 WL 2522357, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75949, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/catholic-benefits-assn-lca-v-sebelius-okwd-2014.