In an attempt to block the archdiocese, the administration is arguing that the request for documents from President Barack Obama and his senior advisers would be "exceptionally burdensome" to fulfil and inappropriate except in extraordinary circumstances.

The government is requiring employers to include coverage of contraceptives, abortion drugs and sterilisation procedures in staff health insurance plans.

Although there are some exceptions for religious employers, the New York archdiocese says it would incur nearly $NZ237 million each year in penalties for refusing to comply.

In December, a US District Court judge ruled that the lawsuit filed by the archdiocese and two other Catholic entities can move forward, despite the administration's argument that it was premature.

But in January, a US District Court judge in Washington threw out a related challenge to the birth-control mandate filed by the Archdiocese of Washington and four other Catholic non-profit groups, ruling it was too early to hear the lawsuit.

At least 43 Catholic organisations, including the University of Notre Dame and the Catholic University of America, filed lawsuits in 2012 in courts across the country, arguing that the mandate violates the freedom of religion guaranteed in the US Constitution's First Amendment.

Sixteen companies whose owners have moral objections to the mandate have been granted a temporary injunction while their lawsuits are pending, according to the Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing many of those who have sued over the mandate.

Sources:

Newsmax

Bloomberg

Image: The Guardian

The mandate, introduced by President Barack Obama, requires their health insurance plans to cover contraception, sterilisation and abortion drugs. It came into effect for secular employers on August 1, but religious employers remain exempt for a year.

Whenever their health insurance plan comes up for renewal, these employers must prove their workers have access to birth control or they could face fines of $US100 per employee per day.

Meanwhile, a growing number of Catholic employers have filed legal challenges to the mandate, and the National Catholic Bioethics Center has issued a document outlining the moral options.

In this document, the centre's ethicists reject the option of embracing the contraception mandate as a morally illicit choice.

They offer two alternatives — "Provide morally non-objectionable coverage" or "drop all coverage" — plus a "last resort" option defined as "temporary compliance with the mandate, coupled with active opposition by all reasonable and legal means available".

Their answer to the health insurance dilemma is: "Dropping all coverage appears to be the most morally sound approach."

However, they say, from January 2014 an employer with more than 50 full-time employees could incur a penalty of about $US2000 per employee per year beyond the first 30 full-time employees not offered a health plan — as well as possible legal action by employees and the federal government.

In addition, they add, the principles of stewardship and justice require employers to care for their employees and, in the US, this care typically includes health insurance.

"A sudden change in this approach could leave many employees and their families uninsured or underinsured, with little time to adjust and find affordable, quality alternatives," the ethicists say.

Sources:

National Catholic Register

Ethics and Medics

Image: WAMU