New York court asked to rehear case on contraceptive mandate

Published: 2006-11-29

ALBANY, N.Y. (CNS) -- Claiming that New York's highest state court erred on several counts in upholding a state mandate that would require religious organizations to provide contraceptive prescription coverage for their employees, eight Catholic and two Protestant groups have asked the New York Court of Appeals to rehear the case. The court's Oct. 19 decision also failed to consider that the "practical impact" of the legislation could be the opposite of the law's intended effect, by providing an incentive for religious employers to cancel prescription coverage altogether, the groups said in a motion filed Nov. 20. "Mandating contraceptive coverage by church entities like plaintiffs if and only if those entities choose to provide their employees with prescription drug coverage at all actually undermines the objective of the law, while exempting such entities would without question advance that objective," the motion said.

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