By Ron Meyer, Young America's Foundation
Spokesman
"The Religion then of every man must be left to the
conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of
every man to exercise it as these may dictate. This right is in its
nature an unalienable right." - James Madison
College of the Ozarks (Point Lookout, MO),
known more commonly as "Hard Work U" for their student work
requirement, has filed a lawsuit against the Departments of Health
and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and Treasury challenging the
constitutionality of ObamaCare's contraception and abortion bill
mandate.
And, it's no coincidence that they filed on September
17--Constitution Day.
In an email to YAF from a Dean, the college released this
statement: "On the 225th anniversary of the signing of the
U.S. Constitution, the College of the Ozarks is seeking the
enforcement of the rights guaranteed to it by the Constitution by
suing the federal agencies tasked with the implementation of the
Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)…
"Time has run out for the College and for the thousands
of religious institutions that find themselves caught in the
untenable position of having to choose between their religious
beliefs and compliance with laws that interfere with the basic
tenets upon which this country was founded."
Religious freedom was included in the first sentence of the
First Amendment of the Bill of Rights for a reason.
James Madison, the father of the Constitution and author of the
First Amendment, said that our religious beliefs "can be directed
only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence." In clear
violation of Madison's principles embedded in the Constitution,
ObamaCare's birth control mandate forces religious employers to buy
a product contradictory to their beliefs.
ObamaCare fines schools and companies which don't provide
contraceptives and abortion-causing drugs to their employees-even
if it's based on a sincerely held religious belief. The
Congressional Research Service release a document stating
these fines could be $100 per employee per day.
According to ObamaCare, College of the Ozarks isn't religious
enough to qualify as a "religious employer", despite being a
religious institution. Therefore, they don't qualify for any
exemptions to the mandate.
Dr. Jerry Davis, president of College of the
Ozarks, said in a press release today, "Now that God has been
removed from public schools, shoved off the public square, we now
see that a faceless group of unelected government
bureaucrats have decided to redefine what constitutes a
religious employer. We want to know: Who decided that
we need a 'new definition'? With whom did the regulators
consult on this description?"
If the government can define "religious," they can
redefine religious freedom. If only certain groups qualify for
religious freedoms, America as a whole has lost religious freedom.
Jesus wouldn't have even qualified for the
government exemption.
The Supreme Court butchered the first ObamaCare case regarding
the individual mandate, but with this added religious element, the
contraception and abortion bill mandate has a good shot of being
declared unconstitutional. The religious freedom argument appeals
to one of America's most fundamental values, and considering the
Roberts Court has
a strong pro-religious freedom record, the College of the
Ozarks' case may be one to watch for in the coming months.
Ron Meyer--age 22--is the spokesman for Young
America's Foundation. He's a frequent guest on Fox News and the
Sean Hannity Radio Show. Email him at
rmeyer@yaf.org.
College of the Ozarks is on Young America's Foundation's Top Conservative Colleges List.
