Illinois college to drop health coverage over contraception mandate

[July 31, 2015]  By Mary Wisniewski
 
 CHICAGO (Reuters) - An evangelical Christian college in Illinois will stop providing health insurance to students on Friday because of its objection to the Obamacare mandate to provide contraceptive coverage, a legal group representing the school said on Thursday.

The decision affects about 500 of 3,000 students at Wheaton College, a nondenominational liberal arts school in the Chicago suburb of Wheaton, according to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a Washington-based legal group that represents the college.

Wheaton College President Philip Ryken said in a statement that the government's insistence that the college provide insurance services that contradict its religious beliefs forced it to make this "difficult choice."

Colleges are not required to provide health insurance to students, but the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, requires policies provided by colleges that offer insurance to cover preventive services for women, including access to contraception and sterilization.

The contraception requirement has been challenged by Wheaton College as well as religiously affiliated nonprofits and family-owned companies such as Hobby Lobby Stores that oppose abortion and in some cases the use of contraceptives.

Wheaton objects to so-called "morning-after" pills and intrauterine devices that prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus, according to the Becket Fund.

A government provision would require the college to notify the government that it wanted to opt out by claiming a religious exemption, which would cause the college's insurers to provide coverage directly to students.

Wheaton objected to the provision, which would allow the government to use the college's health plans to get around its religious opposition, said Becket attorney Mark Rienzi.

"It's hard to believe the government's making the world better by stopping Wheaton from offering the insurance it used to offer," said Rienzi. The college will keep fighting in court, he added.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied Wheaton's request for a preliminary injunction on July 1.

(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

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