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 U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam Jr. in Oakland, California, said
the federal government likely did not follow proper administrative
procedures in promulgating the new rules, and put them on hold while
a lawsuit challenging their legality proceeds.
The decision followed a similar ruling from a federal judge in
Philadelphia last Friday that blocked the administration from
enforcing rules it announced in October allowing businesses or
nonprofits to obtain exemptions on moral or religious grounds.
Gilliam ruled on a lawsuit pursued by Democratic attorneys general
in California, Delaware, Maryland, New York and Virginia.
He said that a preliminary injunction was necessary given the "dire
public health and fiscal consequences" that could result as a result
of the administration adopting the rules without the input of
interested parties.
"If the Court ultimately finds in favor of Plaintiffs on the merits,
any harm caused in the interim by rescinded contraceptive coverage
would not be susceptible to remedy," he wrote.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement that,
given last week's decision in Pennsylvania, "today's ruling amounts
to a one-two punch against the Trump administration's unlawful
overreach."
The U.S. Justice Department defended the rules in court. Lauren
Ehrsam, a department spokeswoman, said the agency disagreed with the
ruling and was evaluating its next steps.
"This administration is committed to defending the religious liberty
of all Americans and we look forward to doing so in court," Ehrsam
said in a statement.
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The lawsuit is among several that Democratic state attorneys general
filed after the Republican Trump administration revealed the new
rules on Oct. 6, which targeted the contraceptive mandate
implemented as part of 2010's Affordable Care Act, popularly known
as Obamacare.
The rules will let businesses or nonprofits lodge religious or moral
objections to obtain an exemption from the law's mandate that
employers provide contraceptive coverage in health insurance with no
co-payment.
Conservative Christian activists and congressional Republicans
praised the move, while reproductive rights advocates and Democrats
criticized it.
(Reporting by Dan Levine in San Francisco and Nate Raymond in
Boston; editing by Leslie Adler and Jonathan Oatis)
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