CatholicOnline: The government has 30 days to file a notice of appeal of this ruling.
Judge Jackson found that because Thomas Aquinas College self-insures, the challenged regulations could force the College to take steps to facilitate access to contraceptive and abortifacient services. Since the College testified that access to such services is contrary to its Catholic principles, the Court found that the regulations substantially burden the College’s free exercise of religion, and thus issued the permanent injunction.
“In the case of a self-insured entity like Thomas Aquinas, the newly enacted regulations fall short of the mark. Since the accommodation imposes a duty upon the religious organization to contract with a willing third-party administrator that will arrange for the payments for contraceptives, they compel the organization to take affirmative steps – to do something – that is in conflict with the tenets of its faith. And therefore, defendants are enjoined from enforcing the mandate against
Thomas Aquinas College.” Full report here.
