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<P class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Supreme Court
asks administration to weigh in on reviving healthcare
lawsuit<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The
Hill<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Sam
Baker<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">October 1,
2012<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><A
href="http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/legal-challenges/259471-scotus-asks-obama-admin-to-weigh-in-on-reviving-healthcare-lawsuit">http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/legal-challenges/259471-scotus-asks-obama-admin-to-weigh-in-on-reviving-healthcare-lawsuit</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The Supreme
Court is weighing whether it should revive a religious university's lawsuit over
President Obama's healthcare reform law.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Liberty
University is trying to revive its lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act. The
Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal in that case after its landmark
healthcare ruling this summer, but Liberty says its case presents different
issues and should get a new hearing in a lower court.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The Supreme
Court asked the Justice Department on Monday to respond to Liberty's request for
a new hearing. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The court
rarely grants rehearings, especially on issues it has already decided, and its
rules say rehearings are only allowed when circumstances have changed
significantly since an appeal was denied.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">But Liberty
says it meets that requirement.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Liberty's case
moved through lower courts alongside the cases filed by state attorneys general
— including the one that ultimately ended up before the Supreme Court.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">When Liberty's
case got to a federal appeals court, that court said it could not rule in the
case. Liberty, like the states, challenged the law's individual mandate. The
appeals court said it could not rule on the issue because of the Anti-Injunction
Act, which prevents people from suing the government over a tax they haven't yet
had to pay.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">But the
Supreme Court, when hearing the states' healthcare suit, specifically said the
Anti-Injunction Act did not apply to the individual mandate. Therefore, Liberty
says, the appeals court was simply wrong — it declined to issue a ruling for
reasons the Supreme Court explicitly rejected in a separate
case.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The Supreme
Court gave the Obama administration 30 days to weigh in on whether Liberty's
suit should be revived.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Liberty says
its case should have another shot in the courts because it's challenging the
mandate on different grounds. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Although
Liberty raised the same objections as the states, its lawsuit also argues that
the healthcare law violates its religious freedom by requiring it to purchase a
healthcare policy that could, indirectly, contribute to the funding of
abortion.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Liberty's
initial complaint said because university employees would have to comply with
the individual mandate and the university would have to to comply with the
employer mandate, they "cannot protect their sincerely held religious beliefs
against facilitating, subsidizing, easing, funding, or supporting
abortions."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Liberty is
also participating in a separate round of lawsuits over healthcare law's policy
requiring many employers to provide contraception in their employees' healthcare
plans. The administration has not yet determined how the policy would affect
self-insured religious institutions like Liberty.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d">Disclaimer: The
Republican National Committee provided the above article as a service to its
employees and other selected individuals. Any opinions expressed therein
are those of the article’s author and do not necessarily reflect the views and
opinions of the RNC.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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