On Wednesday, March 23, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Geneva College’s lawsuit against the federal government. The Court will decide whether the law allows the Obama administration to require the College and other religious non-profits to provide abortion-inducing drugs and devices through their health insurance plans, in violation of their deeply held religious beliefs.
As historic oral arguments are being presented inside the U.S. Supreme Court building, the Geneva community will provide a strong show of support outside. Representatives will be on hand to demonstrate their belief in the sanctity of life and freedom of religion they hope the Supreme Court will uphold with its decision. Dr. Millie Johnson, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Geneva, is one community member who will be waiting outside the courthouse.
Dr. Johnson says, “As a college community, we should not be made to go against our deeply held religious convictions and be forced to provide abortion-inducing medications through our healthcare plan. We do not want to be responsible for terminating life once it has been conceived. The freedoms guaranteed under federal law and the First Amendment are civil rights. They are not special gifts that government can give or withhold when it chooses. We should have the right to peacefully operate according to our beliefs without fear of severe punishment by the government.”
The U.S. Supreme Court decision to hear the case, which came in November of 2015, is the result of the federal lawsuit Geneva filed in February of 2012, Geneva College v. Sebelius. That lawsuit argued that the Obama administration’s mandate requiring organizations to provide insurance coverage for abortion-inducing drugs to employees and students regardless of religious or moral convictions violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, among other things.
Acting in a manner consistent with its deeply held Christian beliefs, Geneva has continued to pursue legal action against the mandate in an effort to protect the college and other religious organizations from government mandates that require acting against religious or moral convictions. As Geneva asked the high Court to review an appellate court decision that upheld the mandate, four Christian universities in Oklahoma did the same in Southern Nazarene University v. Burwell. Five other cases are being considered with these two.
Student Elisabeth “Elsa” Spear is one of a couple of dozen Geneva students traveling to Washington D.C. as the oral arguments are heard. She expresses her support, noting that Geneva has been dedicated to human freedom by helping to end slavery, assisting those in the Underground Railroad and even admitting women in the early days of higher education. “We believe that all deserve life, and abundant life. Why? Because we love God and we love our world. And it is unjust for our Geneva family to be facing crippling fines in the millions of dollars simply for being who we have always been.”
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys represent Geneva, as well as Southern Nazarene University, Oklahoma Wesleyan University, Oklahoma Baptist University and Mid-America Christian University. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.
“The government has no legitimate basis for forcing faith-based organizations to be involved in providing abortion pills to their employees or students,” said ADF Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor. “These Christian colleges simply want to abide by the very faith they espouse and teach. They should not be forced to choose between giving up their fundamental freedoms and paying financial penalties. That is not a choice Americans should have to face.”
“We look forward to the argument before the Supreme Court, which we hope will reverse the appeals courts’ rulings and ensure that people of faith are not punished for making decisions consistent with that faith,” added ADF Senior Counsel David Cortman.
ADF attorneys and allied attorneys represented Conestoga Wood Specialties and its owners in their victory against the abortion-pill mandate at the U.S. Supreme Court last year. While that case addressed the mandate as it applies to for-profit family-run businesses, these cases pertain to the mandate as applied to religious non-profit organizations. Although the administration argues that executing and submitting a so-called “accommodation” form insulates religious nonprofits from providing abortifacients, ADF attorneys explain that is not the case.
The form directly involves the Christian colleges in providing abortifacients in multiple ways by, for example, (1) altering their health plans to allow for the provision of such drugs or devices, (2) requiring them to notify or identify to the government who their insurers or Third-Party Administrators (TPAs) are so that they can provide the drugs or devices on the colleges’ behalf, (3) officially authorizing their TPA as a plan and claims administrator solely for the purpose of providing the items, and (4) requiring them to identify and contract with a TPA that is willing to provide the drugs and devices to which they religiously object.
Geneva College invites students to step forward with an affordable education. Offering nearly 40 undergraduate majors, Adult Degree Programs with fully online and campus-based options, and high-demand advanced graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. U.S. News & World Report ranks Geneva as a Top 10 Best Value College in the Northeast, with one of the Top 100 Engineering programs in the nation. Adhering to the inerrancy of Scripture, a Geneva education is grounded in God’s Word as well as in a core curriculum designed to prepare students vocationally to think, write and communicate well in today’s world.
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