Naples college invigorated in its Obamacare battle

NAPLES — Ave Maria University President Jim Towey says the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a religious freedom case bodes well in its own fight against a provision of the federal health care overhaul.

Towey, who ran the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives under President George W. Bush, released a statement about the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby case late yesterday after the decision. The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 opinion, ruled some for-profit companies don't have to provide contraception coverage to employees under religious exemptions to the Affordable Care Act. The ruling only applies to certain businesses, not colleges, faith-based groups or nonprofits like Ave Maria.

But Towey says the narrow ruling is a confidence boost in Ave Maria's case because it's a “sharp rebuke of the Obama administration and its treatment of” groups that hold sincerely held religious beliefs. Ave Maria sued the federal government in 2012. The school, and later the University of Notre Dame in a separate suit, contends the “preventive care” aspect of the law is unconstitutional. That portion of the law requires group health plans to include abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization and other contraceptive services for free, the school says. No conscience clause is offered and only places of worship are exempted.