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Autocam CEO sues Sebelius over Obamacare mandate that violates ‘the sanctity of human life’

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John Kennedy, president and CEO of Autocam and Autocam Medical, filed suit against Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and the Department of Health and Human Services challenging the health care law’s contraception mandate, saying it violates the employer’s “deeply held religious convictions about the dignity of the person.”

Kennedy also released a YouTube video in conjunction with the lawsuit, in partnership with CatholicVote.org.

In a statement, Kennedy claimed the law “does nothing to improve access or eliminate cost for essential medications like insulin and heart medication.”

“Why is the Obama administration prioritizing life-ending drugs over lifesaving drugs?” Kennedy asked.

The Obama health care law “requires him and his family to abandon the religious beliefs that motivated them to offer high wages and quality benefits,” he said in a statement.

“The Affordable Care Act requires that businesses offer healthcare that covers drugs and procedures that violate the sanctity of human life,” Kennedy explained.

The law, which went into effect Aug. 1, forces Kennedy and his fellow employers “to choose between violating our religious convictions, stripping our associates of benefits, or shutting down our business.”

“The Affordable Care Act threatens the right to religious freedom, upon which our nation was founded.”

According to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty: “Today there are 33 cases and over 90 individuals representing hospitals, universities, businesses, schools, and people all speaking with one voice to affirm the freedom of religion guaranteed in the Constitution.”

Patrick T. Gillen of the CatholicVote Legal Defense Fund is one of four lawyers representing the plaintiffs in the suit pro bono. The suit was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan.

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