Colorado Christian U. Again Challenges Federal Rules on Contraceptive Coverage

Colorado Christian University has refiled its lawsuit challenging national health-care rules that provide insurance coverage for contraceptives to women who work for religious organizations, including colleges affiliated with faith groups, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty announced on Wednesday.

Final rules issued by the Obama administration in June sought to get around such groups’ objections by creating a way for women to get contraceptive coverage at no cost to their employers. But Eric Baxter, senior counsel at the Becket Fund, which is representing the university in the matter, said the new rules still force the university to violate its deeply held religious beliefs.

Under the regulations, he said, “organizations like CCU are excused from directly paying for abortion-causing drugs and devices only if they ‘designate’ another organization to do the same thing they cannot do directly.” The university “cannot assuage its conscience by simply requiring someone else to provide the objectionable services,” he said.

The university was one of several institutions that had challenged earlier versions of the rules. Its original lawsuit was dismissed in January.