D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rules against HHS mandate for Catholic business owners

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 1, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In the newest victory for religious freedom in the U.S. judicial system, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of two Catholic business owners who are fighting the Health & Human Services (HHS) contraceptive, abortifacient, and sterilization mandate on Friday.

The case involved two Ohio brothers, Frank and Phil Gilardi, whom the mandate would force to either violate their consciences or face over $14 million in fines as they run their two businesses in the town of Sidney.

Justice Janice Rogers Brown wrote in the decision that “the burden of the HHS mandate “becomes substantial because the government commands compliance by giving the Gilardis a Hobson’s choice. They can either abide by the sacred tenets of their faith, pay a penalty of over $14 million, and cripple the companies they have spent a lifetime building, or they become complicit in a grave moral wrong.”

“If that is not 'substantial pressure on an adherent to modify his behavior and to violate his beliefs,' we fail to see how the standard could be met,” she wrote.

Read the rest of the story here.