Liberty Counsel Files Appellate Brief in the Most Comprehensive Challenge Pending to ObamaCare

Richmond, VA – Following the Supreme Court’s directive to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia regarding ObamaCare, Liberty Counsel today filed its brief in the case of Liberty University v. Geithner. Liberty Counsel represents Liberty University and two private individuals in this case. While there are other legal challenges to the employer contraceptive/abortifacient mandate, Liberty Counsel’s challenge is the most comprehensive challenge pending in the country.

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Liberty Counsel’s lawsuit challenges (1) the employer mandate for all employers; (2) the abortion mandate for religious employers; (3) the abortion mandate for individuals; and (4) the entire law because tax bills must originate in the House, and ObamaCare originated in the Senate. This case is the only one in the country that challenges the entire employer mandate for all employers. Like other pending cases, our case also challenges the so-called “Preventative coverage” mandate, which requires employers to provide free contraceptives, sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and IUDs, of which the latter two cause abortion. ObamaCare also forces all employees who are part of a plan that offers abortion coverage to pay $1 per month directly to an abortion fund. This too is part of the case. Finally, the brief argues that ObamaCare is invalid because, if it is a tax as the Supreme Court ruled regarding the individual mandate, it violates the Constitution’s Origination Clause, as tax bills must originate in the House, not the Senate. Senate President Harry Reid used a House bill unrelated to ObamaCare, struck all the language and the title so that only the former HR number remained, and then inserted a new title and over 2,000 pages of ObamaCare. If it is a tax, ObamaCare cannot originate in the Senate and is therefore invalid. “ObamaCare represents a frontal attack to religious freedom. ObamaCare is a train about to collide with the fundamental right to free exercise of religion,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. “Not only does ObamaCare violate the rights of religious employers because of its abortion mandate, it violates the rights of individuals who oppose abortion and the rights of all employers, religious or not. And to boot, the entire law is invalid because tax bills must originate in the House, and ObamaCare originated in the Senate,” concluded Staver. Liberty Counsel is a litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.