CLS Files Brief Today To Protect Congregations' Worship Services

October 15, 2012 - Today CLS has filed a brief in support of Wheaton College and Belmont Abbey College in their joint challenge to the "HHS Mandate."  The Mandate is a federal regulation that requires employers to provide insurance coverage for Plan B and ella, which many regard as abortion-inducing drugs.  While the Mandate exempts some "religious employers," the exemption is so narrow that these religious colleges do not qualify as "religious employers."

Eleven groups joined the CLS brief to explain why the Mandate’s definition of “religious employer” sharply departs from the bipartisan tradition of respecting religious conscience rights.  Joining the CLS brief are:

• Association of Gospel Rescue Missions
• Prison Fellowship Ministries
• Council for Christian Colleges & Universities
• Christian Medical Association
• Association of Christian Schools International
• National Association of Evangelicals
• Queens Federation of Churches
• Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic of the Anglican Church in North America
• Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention
• Patrick Henry College
• Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance