Catholic business owner asks court for injunction to stop HHS mandate

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Catholic business owner asks court for injunction to stop HHS mandate

A pro-life legal organization has asked a federal court to block the HHS health care mandate from being enforced on a St. Louis business.

Late last month, the American Center for Law and Justice asked a federal court to grant a preliminary injunction to halt the enforcement of the HHS mandate, because it violates the religious beliefs of business owner Frank O'Brien, who is Catholic.

In March, the ALCJ filed suit on behalf of O'Brien and his company, O'Brien Industrial Holdings LLC, against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The suit challenges the requirement that employers purchase health insurance for their employees, which includes coverage for contraceptives, sterilizations and abortion-inducing drugs.

Frank O'Brien is chairman O'Brien Industrial Holdings, a holding company that operates several businesses that explore, mine and process refractory and ceramic raw materials. The company faces a Jan. 1, 2013, deadline to have a new health care policy in place for O'Brien's 87 employees.

"We're asking the court to intervene right now because in a very short time our client, Frank O'Brien, will be faced with a choice no government has the right to impose on him: abandon his business, or abandon his beliefs," said Francis J. Manion, Senior Counsel of the ACLJ, who is representing O'Brien. "The HHS mandate is an unprecedented attack on the religious liberty of millions of Americans. It's a clear violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the First Amendment."

In its motion asking the court to grant a preliminary injunction in the case, the ACLJ noted that O'Brien is likely to succeed on the merits of the lawsuit and urged the court to grant the business an exemption to the mandate while the case is litigated.

O'Brien has said his religious beliefs provide the framework for the operation of his businesses. The company website notes that its mission "is to make our labor a pleasing offering to the Lord while enriching our families and society."