Court: LC not required to cover emergency contraception

Louisiana College’s insurance provider does not have to cover contraception methods it finds “religiously offensive” for LC employees, according to a judge’s ruling in a suit the private Baptist school in Pineville filed in 2012.

The school opposed the contraceptive mandate of the Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare. The ACA required non-exempt employment-based group health plans to provide cost-free coverage for all contraceptive methods approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Four of those methods may prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterine wall, which LC officials said opposes the religious beliefs of the college. LC filed suit in February 2012 stating that the ACA’s contraceptive mandate violated the school’s religious freedom.

According to a ruling issued Wednesday by federal Judge Dee Drell, LC believes as a matter of faith that human life begins at conception, or when an egg becomes fertilized, and it is against its religious beliefs to participate in or facilitate access to abortion or “abortifacient” drugs, as it refers to them.

The suit began under the administration of former LC President Joe Aguillard, who became president emeritus Aug. 1. He said the decision to file suit was one of choosing to stand on biblical principles.

“For over 100 years Louisiana College has stood on a foundation based on biblical principles,” Aguillard said. “One of those is life. ... We couldn’t stand for life and provide for life-ending procedures.”

LC has about 180 full-time and 80 part-time employees who are to “exemplify a Christian lifestyle ... and living according to the ethical principles affirmed by Holy Scripture.” One of these principles is a belief that life begins at conception and is part of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, the doctrinal statement to which LC adheres.

The college provides its employees and their dependents with health insurance coverage through the GuideStone Plan, which provides coverage consistent with the religious beliefs of the Southern Baptist Convention and, in turn, Louisiana College. Accordingly, the plan does not cover emergency contraceptive drugs or devices, which would be required under ACA.

Drell ruled in favor of Louisiana College in the suit based on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

“In the present case, Plaintiff (LC) has established a sincere religious belief that it cannot provide coverage for, facilitate access to or enable the use of emergency contraceptives because they can end a human life,” the ruling states. “Plaintiff sincerely believes that any involvement in the use or provision of emergency contraceptives is a sin and is forbidden by its religion.”

The Alliance Defending Freedom, non-profit legal organization, represented the school in Louisiana College v. Sebelius.

“All Americans should oppose unjust laws that force people — under threat of punishment — to give up their freedom to live and work according to their beliefs,” senior counsel Kevin Theriot said in an email. “Louisiana College is a Christian college that simply wants to continue to operate as a Christian college as it has since its founding in1906. The court — in the first final ruling finding against the mandate that we are (aware) of — did the right thing in striking down the Obamacare abortion pill mandate as it applies to Louisiana College’s health insurance coverage.”

The decision follows the similar ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States regarding coverage offered to employees of Hobby Lobby, which was decided in June.