The US Court Appeals has denied a religious college’s request to bar the 
government from enforcing the Act’s requirement that cover the all legal contraception.
Wheaton College, a nondenominational evangelical Christian college in Illinois, had sought an injunction that would have the effect blocking for interuterine devices (IUDs) and medications that prevent a fertilized ovum from implanting in the uterine wall. It did not object to what it called “traditional” contraceptives that prevent fertilization an egg.
The allows with religious objections to contraception to “opt out” including it in their . However, they must inform their , who then directly contact individuals in the affected and them this directly, at no to the insureds.
The college said the ’s requirement conflicted with Wheaton’s “Community Covenenant,” which calls upon students and employees to “uphold the God-given worth human beings, from conception to death.”
The school had argued that the infringed its religious rights, in violation the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the First Amendment by making it “complicit” in the provision emergency contraception to its students and employees.
The Court Appeals for the Seventh Circuit denied the school’s request for the injunction based on the ACA’s “opt out” provision. Requiring the school to inform its carrier is not an unreasonable burden, it said, nor does it “take over Wheaton’s , as Wheaton contends.”
There is no conflict between the and the beliefs embodied in Wheaton’s “Community Covenant,” which implicitly bars emergency contraception measures, the court said. It added that anyone adhering to the Covenant would not make use these measures, so they are not affected.
The court noted that none the 20 contraception approved by the FDA abort a viable embryo. All prevent fertilization an egg or prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the wall the uterus. The government defines pregnancy as beginning with implantation an egg, while in Wheaton’s view, pregnancy begins when the egg is fertilized.
The court said students and employees who do not interpret the Covenant the same way as Wheaton, and members the college community who do not have to sign the Covenant, should not be restricted from accessing contraception to which the school objects.
Wheaton additionally argued that it should be treated like a “religious ,” which the allows to exclude contraception without having to notify their insurers. But the court noted that Wheaton does not claim to be a church.
The court also rejected the school’s claim that forcing it to notify its insurer that it is opting out contraceptive violates its First Amendment rights. The court said the requirement is no different from requiring a protestor to file a 1099 form, or a conscientious objector to identify himself or herself as such.
While denying the school’s request for a preliminary injunction, the appellate court’s ruling does not prevent Wheaton from continuing to pursue its case in federal court.