Missouri lawmaker challenges birth control mandate

[Omaha Steve]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140908/us-birth-control-missouri-4f87703ea9.html

ALAN SCHER ZAGIER

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A Missouri lawmaker fighting required birth control coverage in his state-sponsored insurance plan is relying on the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Hobby Lobby ruling as he contests a lower court's rejection of his legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act mandate.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis heard arguments Monday morning in a lawsuit by Republican state Rep. Paul Wieland of Imperial and his wife, Teresa, against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and two other federal agencies.

Wieland's lawyer Timothy Belz urged the three-judge panel to reverse the U.S. District Court's November 2013 ruling, citing the Supreme Court's decision this summer that private companies such as Hobby Lobby with religious objections can opt out of the contraceptive requirement under the federal health care law. The Wielands have three daughters, ages 13, 19 and 20

Justice Department lawyer Alisa Klein, assistant director of the agency's civil division, said the legal challenge by Wieland is the only such case she is aware of involving an individual seeking an exemption from the federal health insurance plan's birth control coverage. Dozens of private employers have challenged the contraception mandate on religious grounds, including the Archdiocese of St. Louis, which in July won a preliminary injunction in the same St. Louis-based federal court that had previously rejected Wieland's claim.

FULL story at link.

[SheilaT]

1. Is this idiot under the impression

he or the women in his family are going to be FORCED to use contraception?

Someone this dumb should not be making laws.