Mon Sep 12, 2022 – 5:51 pm EDT
(LifeSiteNews) – On September 7, a federal judge in Texas ruled that a Christian business was exempt from the government mandate to cover certain HIV-preventive drugs for employees.
Braidwood Management Inc., which is owned by Steven Hotze and oversees Hotze Health and Wellness Center, took legal action in 2020 against a part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which requires coverage for contraceptives and PrEP drugs. Judge Reed O’Connor ruled in agreement with Hotze, stating that this provision violates the religious freedom of the Christian company.
According to the court order, Braidwood brought up several complaints about the ACA mandates, including denying Braidwood “of the ability to choose whether and to what extent its insurance plan covers preventive care” and forcing the company “to underwrite coverage for services to which it holds sincere religious objections.”
“Hotze wants Braidwood’s plan to exclude or limit coverage for the preventive care services,” the report states. “But Braidwood cannot exclude coverage for those services without violating the law.”
“Because Braidwood self-insures, Hotze believes that offering coverage is itself a tacit endorsement of the behaviors that he believes the services encourage,” it adds.
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