Federal judge frees Geneva College from government requirement on health coverage

A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the government from requiring a private college in Beaver County to include coverage for abortifacients in the health insurance plan for its students.

Geneva College in Beaver Falls, which is affiliated with the Reformed Presbyterian Church, said in court documents that it has to pick a health plan by Thursday for the next school and, without the judge's order, would opt to provide no health insurance instead of providing coverage that violates its religious tenets.

U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti said the college can continue to provide health plans without coverage for the abortion-inducing drugs until the case is decided or a higher court rules on the issue.