C of O sues government over health care reform

Point Lookout-based College of the Ozarks has filed suit against federal agencies charged with implementing health care reform under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The suit, filed against the Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury departments, objects on the basis of the college's religious beliefs, specifically concerning the contraceptive mandate in the act, according to a news release from the college.

The mandate requires employers to cover contraception in employer health insurance plans, though it exempts religious organizations, such as churches, according to the Washington Post.

The college, which says it doesn't fit the act's definition of a religious institution, claims the mandate violates constitutional and statutory provisions. C of O is seeking an exemption from the contraceptive mandate, so it isn't "placed in the untenable position of choosing to obey the law or ignore its religious beliefs," the release said.

“The so-called Affordable Care Act is government at its worst,” C of O President Jerry Davis said in the release. “This is not a partisan issue. It is a constitutional issue, and the college wants its rights respected and enforced, instead of being trampled upon."

According to the Associated Press, other schools such as the University of Notre Dame and The Catholic University of America also have filed suits challenging the contraception mandate, and attorneys general in seven states also have filed suits against the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, which was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in June.

Last week, Hobby Lobby Stores Inc., a privately held and self-described Christian owned-and-operated business, filed suit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services challenging the mandate, according to a Sept. 12 news release.

“By being required to make a choice between sacrificing our faith or paying millions of dollars in fines, we essentially must choose which poison pill to swallow,” Hobby Lobby founder and CEO David Green said in the release. “We simply cannot abandon our religious beliefs to comply with this mandate.”