Court Decision Upholds Religious Freedom for Geneva - Geneva College
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Court Decision Upholds Religious Freedom for Geneva

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(BEAVER FALLS, Pa.) – Geneva College received a favorable decision in its lawsuit against the U.S. government over the mandate to provide healthcare insurance coverage for abortion-related services. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on July 5, 2018, ordered the federal government to permanently cease enforcement of the Affordable Care Act's abortion-pill mandate, which the court declared violated Geneva College’s rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).

The order in Geneva College v. Azar ended Geneva’s six-year legal action against the mandate, which sought to force employers to provide abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization and contraception through their health plans regardless of religious or moral convictions. Geneva was represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, a non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.

Dr. Calvin L. Troup, president of Geneva College, says, “We are thankful for this court decision that upholds Biblical commitments that are central to the mission of Geneva College. We are also grateful for the religious liberty through which we can work to protect the lives of unborn children, acting within our responsibility as image bearers of God and as citizens. I’m thankful to our attorneys at the Alliance Defending Freedom and to all who have supported and prayed for us since we started on this journey in February of 2012.”

The case, which named as defendants the United States Departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury, and Labor, along with their respective secretaries, was filed in 2012 after the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was signed into law by President Barack Obama. It reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 2016 where justices sent the case back to lower courts for resolution.

Geneva College is a Christ-centered academic community that provides a comprehensive education to equip students for faithful and fruitful service to God and neighbor. Geneva offers over 80 traditional undergraduate majors and programs, an array of fully online bachelor’s programs designed to be attainable for busy adults, and an array of high-demand graduate degrees in both classroom and online formats. Geneva’s programs are recognized for their high quality, with U.S. News & World Report ranking Geneva as a Top Three Best Value Regional University, and as having one of the Top 100 engineering programs in the nation. Adhering to the truth 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.
Jul 12, 2018