By Liberty Institute, Special for USDR
Today, on behalf of six Christian and Missionary Alliance affiliated ministries, including four retirement communities and two colleges, Liberty Institute and lead counsel O’Melveny & Myers LLP filed anamicus curiae (friend-of-the-court) brief with the Supreme Court in the case of East Texas Baptist University v. Burwell. Read the brief: https://www.libertyinstitute.org/CMA
In the brief, the Christian and Missionary Alliance ministries ask the Supreme Court to allow religious organizations to be exempt from providing contraceptives through their health care plans. They argue that the HHS mandate forces religious organizations to violate their faith by providing abortifacients. This requirement infringes on the organizations’ sincere religious belief that all life is sacred and must be protected from conception to natural death.
Liberty Institute President and CEO Kelly Shackelford says, “The government is giving these ministries two options: violate their faith or pay a hefty fine. The government has no right to tell a ministry that they must participate in what they see as the ending of a human life, in violation of their sincerely held religious beliefs. We must stand up for the rights of these ministries to uphold their faith – and not be fined for doing it.”
Greg Jacob of O’Melveny & Myers LLP, serving as lead counsel for the ministries, says, “We are hopeful the Supreme Court grants the petition and reviews this important case, which has far-reaching consequences for religious non-profits nationwide.”
The Christian and Missionary Alliance Organizations
The signatories on the brief include four religious, non-profit retirement communities and two religious, non-profit colleges associated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination. They are: Shell Point Retirement Community, the Alliance Community for Retirement Living, Chapel Pointe at Carlisle, Town and Country Manor of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, Simpson University, and Crown College.
About Liberty Institute
Liberty Institute is a nonprofit legal group dedicated to defending religious liberty across America – in our schools, for our churches, in the military and throughout the public arena. For more information, visit LibertyInstitute.org.
SOURCE Liberty Institute
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