State AGs threaten to sue over birth-control mandate

{mosads}The state officials said that if the White House finalizes the contraception policy, they’re “prepared to vigorously oppose it in court.” The threat came from the attorneys general of Nebraska, Texas and South Carolina.

The White House policy requires employers to cover a wide range of women’s health services, including contraception, in their employees’ healthcare plans. Churches and places of worship are exempt from the contraception mandate, but institutions such as Catholic hospitals and universities are not.

“We are deeply troubled by the unprecedented coercion of organizations and individuals to act contrary to their religious beliefs,” the state attorneys general said.

Congressional Republicans have also argued that the policy is unconstitutional.

Democrats argue that employees of larger institutions with broad missions haven’t necessarily signed on to a set of religious beliefs. Taking a job at a church is one thing, they say, but professors and nurses are not working to advance a particular faith even if they work for a university or a hospital affiliated with the Catholic Church.