GAYLORD, MI -- The Diocese of Gaylord announced that the Michigan Catholic Conference has filed a lawsuit in Federal Court. The lawsuit is in response to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services requirement of employers to include benefits in health coverage plans for contraceptives, sterilization and some abortion pills or procedures.
The Diocese, led by Bishop Bernard A. Hebda, says that the mandate "strikes at the very heart of religious liberty that our country was founded upon since it imposes upon faith-based organizations a requirement to violate their religious beliefs and moral values, or to face substantial penalties for non-compliance."
The Michigan Catholic Conference stressed the fact that the argument is not one of a persons right to abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization and contraception, saying, "the Government seeks to require Plaintiffs - Catholic entities - to violate their sincerely held religious beliefs by providing, and paying for, and/or facilitating access to those services."
The lawsuit was filed on Monday in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. It was filed in Ohio because Franciscan University of Steubenville, the co-plaintiff in the lawsuit, is located in Southern Ohio.
You can read the letter in its entirety by clicking here.
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