With the federal government still completing rules on contraception coverage under its health care overhaul, a judge has dismissed a Catholic organization’s constitutional challenge to the requirements. "The proposed regulations are not fit for review since they are still being formed," Eastern District Judge Frederic Block (See Profile) wrote in Priests for Life v. Sebelius, 12-cv-753. "If Priests for Life is not content with the ultimate regulations, it may renew its legal challenge at that point," he noted in the April 12 ruling.
The Staten Island-based group challenged provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requiring employers to offer insurance plans covering birth control. Like a number of religious organizations throughout the country, Priests for Life argued compliance with the contraception-coverage mandate would contravene its religious beliefs and, in turn, violate its First Amendment rights. But the Department of Justice has argued that the regulations are still being written. Moreover, the Obama administration has "repeatedly" pledged that it will "never" enforce the regulations on Priests for Life or similar groups, Block noted. The final rules are due in August.
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