Philadelphia Archdiocese Sues Over Contraception Coverage

Doesn't want affiliated charities required to provide birth control.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is helping sue the federal government, saying the contraception mandate violates its freedom of conscience.

Newsworks reports: 

As part of the Roman Catholic Church, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is exempt from the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate. But its collection of 18 affiliated charities — including several nursing homes — is not. Under the law, the charities must provide contraception coverage or, through the religious accommodation, allow a third-party insurer to offer those services on their behalf.

The charities argue that passing those duties on to others still supports contraception and, therefore, violates their religious beliefs. If they fail to provide coverage through the accommodation, the charities must pay a fine of $100 per day per eligible employee — an excessive sum that they say would shut them down.

The Catholic Sun adds: “With 1,600 subscribers in the archdiocesan health care plan, Catholic Charities’ fines would amount to $160,000 per day. In only six months, the fines would reach nearly $1 million.”