This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah's attorney general is wading into a challenge to the federal health care law mandating coverage for birth control.
Attorney General Sean Reyes, on behalf of the state, signed on to a "friend of the court" brief this week backing three religious colleges' lawsuit. Fifteen other state attorneys general have signed on to the cause.
The states aren't directly involved in the case but are invested in its outcome, the attorneys wrote in the legal paper filed for review by U.S. Supreme Court justices.
The 16 states, mostly clustered in the South and West, have a "substantial interest," the brief states, "in ensuring that courts do not demean religious beliefs" by second-guessing individuals' views on what constitutes sin or immoral behavior.
The states are asking the nation's highest court to hear an appeal from Houston Baptist University, East Texas Baptist University and Westminster Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. The schools say their faith is violated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services law, which forces them to comply or pay millions in IRS fines.
Brigham Young University, a private school owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is not a party to the suit.
Under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, most American women are eligible for no-cost birth control, but there are exemptions for religious employer health plans.
Two years ago, a Houston federal court sided with the schools. But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans reversed that decision in June. The appeals panel ruled that the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act does not allow religious nonprofits to shield themselves from providing employees contraceptive coverage without a copayment — a provision of the ACA. The three schools appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court.
In the states' brief, attorneys argue the schools should receive the same exemption as businesses with fewer than 50 employees.
Thousands of businesses are exempt from the mandate, said Diana Verm, attorney for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the schools, in a prepared statement, "so why is [the federal government] needlessly forcing religious institutions, nuns and homeless shelters to carry out its goals?"
Karrie Galloway, executive director of Planned Parenthood in Utah, said she is disappointed Reyes signed the brief, is "not surprised."
If the Supreme Court sides with the schools, female faculty and staff, she said, will be subject to "their employer affecting their most personal goals of health care and family planning."
The other states signing on are Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and West Virginia.
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