Given the president's recent statement on religious freedom, one legal group finds it ironic that the DOJ has appealed a Denver federal judge's decision to uphold a business owner's religious freedom to decline the government mandate requiring him to provide insurance coverage for abortifacient drugs.
Hercules Industries now comes under the scrutiny of a federal appeals court because the owners are standing firm on their convictions.
Attorney Matt Bowman of Alliance Defending Freedom tells OneNewsNow, "Every American, including family business owners, should be free to live and do business according to their faith."
"The Obama administration claims it has unwavering support for religious freedom, but the only thing unwavering in the administration is its tenacious opposition to religious freedom," the attorney asserts.
The mandate forces employers, regardless of their religious or moral convictions, to provide insurance coverage for abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization and contraception under threat of heavy penalties.
"The cost of religious freedom for this family could be millions of dollars per year in fines and lawsuits from the federal government to cripple their business and potentially destroy jobs," Bowman warns. "In filing its appeal, the administration sent a clear message that it wants to force families to abandon their faith in order to earn a living. That's the opposite of religious freedom."
The administration argues that people of faith forfeit their religious liberty once they engage in business.