A temporary injunction was issued last week against a Minnesota car dealership owner who argued the contraceptive mandate under the Affordable Care Act was a violation of his beliefs as an active follower of the Christian faith.
Douglas Erickson, the owner of two car dealerships in Hastings, Minn., asked a Minnesota district court to not enforce the controversial birth control mandate against him and his company. Since the U.S. Supreme Court is currently hearing the case of whether an employer can be mandated to offer birth control to their employees via employer-paid health plans, the court issued Erickson a temporary injunction.
With the injunction in place, the statutory and regulatory provisions of the Affordable Care Act will not be enforced upon Erickson until 30 days after the U.S. Supreme Court announces its decision in the case of Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. The Supreme Court is hearing arguments this week in that case. A decision is expected in June.
An important and contentious issue
How the court will ultimately decide is anyone’s guess at the moment, but for many Americans, this is an important issue that pits religious ideals against a woman’s right to have birth control covered under her medical insurance.
Jeremy Dys, Senior Counsel for Liberty Institute, a national nonprofit legal group dedicated to defending and restoring religious liberty across the United States, applauded the court’s decision in a press release.
“We are grateful that the United States Department of Justice agreed to temporarily refrain from enforcing a portion of the law that we believe would force Mr. Erickson to give up his freedom when doing business,” he wrote.
He also told MintPress News that this injunction offers Mr. Erickson temporary relief.
“The government should not be able to coerce faith-based, for-profit businesses to violate their religious beliefs,” Dys said. “This mandate illegally and unconstitutionally forces our client to violate his sincerely held religious beliefs that form the very foundation for his work as a businessman.”
But not everyone agrees.
The American Civil Liberties Union, along with religious organizations, civil rights and women’s health groups, business leaders and even some members of Congress have filed friend-of-the-court briefs in the Hobby Lobby case, arguing that business owners cannot impose their personal religious beliefs on employees by withholding coverage for health services simply because they disagree that those services are necessary.
“Religious freedom is one of our most fundamental values,” said Louise Melling, deputy director of the ACLU. “It includes the right to our beliefs, but not the right to impose those views on others or to discriminate. That is exactly what these companies are trying to do. Women shouldn’t be denied the coverage they are entitled to under the law because of what their employer happens to believe.”
Dys said, “Americans don’t give up their freedom when opening up a business,” including their religious freedoms, so they should not have to choose between their faith and an “unlawful” mandate, which is why Erickson pursued this case.
‘Steward of Christ’
Douglas Erickson grew up attending Lutheran churches, but became a born-again Christian in the mid-1990s. According to court documents, Erickson’s wife was involved in a worldwide interdenominational Bible study organization, which prompted Erickson to study the Bible more closely, as well. He even joined a men’s Bible study group.
When Erickson’s businesses began to struggle financially, he considered selling them. Instead, he opted to “surrender the Dealerships to Christ” and dedicate himself to integrating faith and work at his dealerships. Erickson now says the dealerships are owned by God and that he is a steward who has been chosen to operate them.
Erickson employs an ordained pastor associated with the Evangelical Free Church of America to provide pastoral services to employees. He is known as “Pastor of the Stores,” and has led monthly prayer gatherings on the first Friday of every month at the dealerships. Employee participation is not mandated, but Erickson reports that most employees choose to participate.
Erickson also hosts fundraising events at the dealerships for religious ministries such as Young Life, a nondenominational Christian ministry that reaches out to adolescents. Erickson reportedly donates both his personal and corporate profits from the business to charities. According to court documents, the dealerships have “invested more than $10,000 of their profits in Young Life” over the past four to five years.
Erickson has also supported Total Life Care Centers, a nonprofit, anti-abortion organization that works with women who have experienced an unplanned pregnancy and encourages them to not have an abortion. He has supported this particular charity for the past six to seven years and has donated to the organization with both personal and corporate funds.
Because the Christian faith teaches followers that life begins at conception, Erickson believes it is “a grave moral wrong to destroy a human embryo” and that contraception — especially those that may have an “abortifacient effect” — is immoral and sinful. In consideration of his beliefs, he does not agree that he should have to cover the cost of birth control for his employees.
Since 1989, Erickson has always excluded abortion coverage from his employees’ health insurance plans. But under the Affordable Care Act, Erickson’s health insurance plans would include coverage for birth control such as emergency contraceptives Plan B and Ella and certain intrauterine devices. Erickson says these are not contraceptives that prevent conception, but instead “induce a chemical abortion of a human life.”
Since the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued more than 1,000 individual waivers to employers and insurance plans, excusing them from complying with the birth control mandate, Erickson and his legal team argue that a religious exemption should also be allowed.
Without an exemption, Erickson would be forced to pay a fine of $100 per day he was found to be incompliant, per employee. Though the maximum fine is $2,000 per employee, Dys said those fines would add up quickly for Erickson, who currently employs more than 60 people.
Faith-based beliefs vs. health care
Though Dys said Erickson’s employees have been extremely supportive of their boss’ attempt to obtain a legal exemption to the birth control mandate, many scholars and human rights advocates have expressed concern about such an exemption.
They argue that the birth control coverage was built into health insurance plans, meaning that Erickson would not be directly paying for contraception.
Opponents to the religious exemption also say it raises the question of how influential employers should be when it comes to health care coverage for their employees.
In a political cartoon published in January by Politico, political cartoonist Matt Wuerker created a piece that hypothesized what may happen if an employer’s religion was used to determine what kind of health insurance their employees received.
One of the character’s in Wuerker’s cartoon said that because her boss was a celibate Shaker, no sex-related health issues would be covered. Another said that since his employer was a vegan Jainist, nothing related to eating meat was covered. The last character said that under her employer’s plan, doctors were not covered at all because her boss is a Christian Scientist.
MintPress asked Dys if he was concerned that a religious exemption could lead to a slippery slope similar to what Wuerker warned of in his cartoon, but Dys said that’s not the issue at stake in this case. He stressed that mandating coverage of life-ending drugs is morally wrong.
“Every American and business owner should be able to live and work without fear of punishment,” Dys said, explaining that no one should have to choose between obedience to government and obedience to God.