Late Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Cleland of Detroit Michigan temporarily blocked the government from forcing the owner of Weingartz Supply Company to include contraception in its health care coverage for employees.
Weingartz is a Catholic-owned family business which sells outdoor power equipment.
The ruling only affects the company’s proprietor Daniel Weingartz and his approximately 170 employees but it opens the door for other firms across the country to seek relief on religious grounds
The contraception mandate is a part of Obama’s Affordable Care Act of 2010, known by many as Obamacare. It mandates that contraception/birth control be included in healthcare policies offered by employers.
Republicans and religious leaders have opposed the birth control mandate, with many priests and pastors speaking out against it behind the pulpit.
The mandate exempts religious organizations from having to provide contraception, but family owned businesses aren’t always recognized as such, despite being owned and operated by religious people.
Judge Cleland is the second judge to temporarily block the controversial part of the Affordable Care Act. U.S. District Judge John Kane in Denver prevented the government from requiring the Catholic owners of Hercules Industries Inc. to provide health insurance that covers birth control.
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