A federal judge in Pittsburgh has again sided with employers that are challenging the contraceptive-coverage mandate in Obamacare on religious grounds.
U.S. District Chief Judge Joy Flowers Conti of the Western District of Pennsylvania has denied a request from the Obama administration for an indicative ruling. Lawyers from the U.S. Department of Justice had argued that the decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit this summer holding that secular, for-profit companies aren’t afforded religious protection and the constitutional rights of their owners don’t pass through to the corporate entity is in direct conflict with an order from Conti issued in the spring granting one of the plaintiffs an injunction from that portion of the Affordable Care Act.
