Biden dishonest about abortion pill mandate
Mandate’s existence, administration’s opposition in court proves claim false
Attorney sound bites: Matt Bowman #1 | Matt Bowman #2
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Vice President Joe Biden at Oct. 11's vice-presidential debate (Reuters) |
In response to a question about the mandate, Biden claimed, “With regard to the assault on the Catholic church, let me make it absolutely clear, no religious institution, Catholic or otherwise…none has to either refer contraception, none has to pay for contraception, none has to be a vehicle to get contraception in any insurance policy they provide. That is a fact.”
“It’s embarrassing to claim that something doesn’t exist while you’re defending it in court,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “The abortion pill mandate’s very existence and the Obama administration’s ongoing legal defense of it demonstrate how amazingly false the vice president’s claims are.”
The mandate explicitly requires religious groups to provide payment, counseling, and an insurance “vehicle” for abortion pills, contraception, and sterilization.
“If Biden’s claims are accurate, Alliance Defending Freedom calls upon President Obama to rescind his mandate,” Bowman added. “We also call upon the Department of Justice to withdraw all of its briefs in defense of forcing faith-based family businesses and other religious organizations to be a vehicle for abortion pills and contraceptives in the insurance policies they provide. If they won’t do this, the vice president should set the record straight and admit that his claims are in error.”
After Biden denied that religious organizations would be forced to comply with the mandate, Republican Vice Presidential Nominee Paul Ryan asked Biden, “Why would they keep suing you? It’s a distinction without a difference.”
On July 27, Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys obtained the first-ever court order against the mandate on behalf of Colorado’s Hercules Industries and the Catholic family that owns it. That order temporarily suspends the mandate against Hercules Industries while its lawsuit goes forward in court. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys are seeking a similar order for Tyndale House Publishers, a publisher of Bibles and other Christian materials that donates 96.5 percent of its profits to faith-based non-profit causes around the world. A hearing in that case has been rescheduled from Oct. 16 to Oct. 29.
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys are also litigating three other lawsuits against the mandate: one in Indiana on behalf of Indiana’s Grace College and Seminary and California’s Biola University; one in Pennsylvania on behalf of Geneva College and The Seneca Hardwood Lumber Company and its owners, the Hepler family; and one in Louisiana on behalf of Louisiana College. The lawsuits represent a large cross-section of Protestants and Catholics who object to the mandate.
- Pronunciation guide: Bowman (BOH’-min)
Related Resources
Fact sheet: ObamaCare and Its Mandates
ABOUT Matt Bowman
Matt Bowman serves as senior counsel and director of regulatory practice for Alliance Defending Freedom, where he leads the team focusing on the impact of administrative law on religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and family. From 2017 to 2020, Bowman was a senior executive service appointee in the Trump administration, serving the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as Deputy General Counsel, and then in the Office for Civil Rights. Prior to joining HHS, Bowman was an accomplished litigator at ADF for over ten years. Before joining ADF in 2006, Bowman served as a law clerk for Judges Samuel A. Alito, Jr., and Michael A. Chagares, at the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and for Judge John M. Roll at the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. Bowman earned his J.D. summa cum laude and was first in his class at Ave Maria School of Law in 2003. He is a member of the bar of the District of Columbia and Michigan and is admitted to practice at the U.S. Supreme Court and multiple federal appellate and district courts.