The University of Notre Dame is using a Trump administration healthcare policy as its defense against pro-abortion groups suing the school for denying a full range of contraceptive services for female students and employees.
The U.S. health and human services department last October expanded the ability of religious organizations to refrain from providing “preventative services” that were previously mandated through Obamacare.
But a coalition of abortion groups, including the National Women’s Law Center, filed a lawsuit against UND, citing access to contraceptives for women as a legal right and accusing UND of imposing “their religious and moral beliefs on countless women.” (RELATED: Notre Dame Students Walk Out Of Pence Speech)
University president John Jenkins has long claimed that UND is only seeking to protect itself from government intrusion on religion. “We do not seek to impose our religious beliefs on others; we simply ask that the government not impose its values on the university when those values conflict with our religious teachings,” USA Today reports. (RELATED: Notre Dame President Smites Dianne Feinstein For ‘Chilling’ Questions About Nominee’s Faith)
Jennings also says the mandate “was not part of the Affordable Care Act passed by Congress” but instead an executive branch decision and therefore subject to reversal by President Trump, according to Campus Reform.
The Daily Caller contacted the university for further elaboration but did not receive an immediate response.