The brief asks the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver to uphold a lower court’s preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the Department of Health and Human Services mandate, which requires religious employers to provide contraception, including drugs the claimants believe act as abortifacients. The current religious exemption for the contraception mandate is too narrow …

A group of organizations, including the National Association of Evangelicals, filed an amici brief arguing that the administration’s “religious employer” definition excludes most religious employers and therefore fails to protect most religious ministries, like these colleges. This violates both statutory and constitutional protection of religious freedom and departs sharply from the nation’s historic bipartisan tradition …

Because the government does not classify Little Sisters of the Poor as a “religious employer,” they are not exempt from the mandate and are required to hire a third party to provide services that they do not morally agree with to their employees.

Other organizations on the brief included Christian Legal Society, Gospel Rescue Missions, Prison Fellowship Ministries, Association of Christian Schools International, American Bible Society, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance, and The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod.

“This case is important, historic and precedent setting,” said Leith Anderson, NAE President. “The ruling will have vast implications on what the government can mandate business owners to do. The government does not have the right to violate the religious beliefs of any of its citizens, including business owners.” Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood are …

Over widespread objections to the mandate, the administration finalized rules that exempt only churches, provide other religious nonprofits with unsatisfactory accommodations, and offer no protection to business owners who seek to apply their faith to their businesses.

The brief was filed by Christian Legal Society and joined by the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions, Prison Fellowship Ministries, Association of Christian Schools International, National Association of Evangelicals, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the C12 Group and the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance.