The judge wrote in her order, granting the preliminary injunction, that “the Seventh Circuit concluded that the Korte [Korte et al. v. Sebelius et al.,] plaintiffs established a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits and irreparable harm, with the balance of harms tipping in their favor. In light of this binding precedent, the court grants Triune’s motion for a preliminary injunction.”

On January 3, 2013, Triune Health Group, Inc., a Roman Catholic health care service company based in DuPage County, Illinois won a preliminary injunction against the Obama Administration’s Health and Human Services mandate for group insurance coverage of sterilization, abortifacients, and contraception.

Triune, recently named byCrain’s Chicago Business as the Best Place to Work for Women in the Chicago metro area, will be permitted to offer its employees a healthcare plan without having to violate its leaders’ sincerely held religious beliefs.

“This is a major victory for our clients and for the cause of religious liberty,” said Kevin Edward White, board member and legal counsel for Chicago’s Thomas More Society, which represents Triune together with the Sam Casey and Bart Waxman, Esqs., of the Jubilee Campaign’s Law of Life Project, based in Washington, D.C. “An oppressive, unconstitutional burden has been temporarily lifted from the shoulders of Christopher and Mary Anne Yep that allows them to continue to practice their Roman Catholic faith and operate their company in a manner that they deem faithful to their conscientious religious beliefs.”

The preliminary injunction was granted by Judge Amy J. St. Eve in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Judge St. Eve wrote in her order, granting the preliminary injunction, that “the Seventh Circuit concluded that the Korte [Korte et al. v. Sebelius et al.,] plaintiffs established a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits and irreparable harm, with the balance of harms tipping in their favor. In light of this binding precedent, the court grants Triune’s motion for a preliminary injunction.”

In Triune’s request for a preliminary injunction, the plaintiffs Christopher and Mary Ann Yep urged the court to grant them relief lest they face the untenable choice “either … to comply with the federal mandate’s requirements in violation of their religious beliefs, or pay ruinous fines that would have a crippling impact on their business and force them to shut down.”

This injunction comes on the heels of recent rulings by other federal courts granting relief to some owners of private firms who protested that the Obamacare HHS mandate would force them to violate their religious beliefs, while refusing comparable relief to others, such as the Christian owners of Hobby Lobby, subjecting them to potentially crippling fines of approximately $1.3 million per day beginning January 1, 2013.

A copy of Judge St. Eve’s order can be found here.

In a subsequent case in an Illinois state court, Triune Health Group was also granted a temporary restraining order against a contraception mandate in Illinois.

Judge Halts Illinois State Mandate of Contraceptives and Abortifacients  Coverage in HHS Lawsuit

On January 15, 2013, Judge Terence M. Sheen of the Dupage County Circuit Court granted Triune Health Group’s motion for a temporary restraining order against Illinois’ contraception mandate, which forces coverage of abortifacients and contraceptives in group healthcare plans. This temporary restraining order comes on the heels of a preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve granting Triune Health Group temporary relief from the federal HHS mandated healthcare coverage of abortifacients, sterilizations, and contraceptives.

“The ruling today is a victory for religious liberty and the right of conscience,” said Peter Breen executive director and legal counsel for the Thomas More Society. “Religious liberty rights don’t end at the four walls of the church. In this pluralistic society we don’t force people to abandon their religious beliefs merely because they are engaged in the marketplace.”

The ruling today was the first ruling by an Illinois court that the state’s contraception mandate for health insurance may be preempted by Illinois laws protecting conscience and religious freedom.

The court will hear argument on the Illinois Attorney General’s motion to transfer the case to Cook County Circuit Court on February 6. Plaintiffs oppose the motion because Triune Health Group is located in Dupage County.

The order issued by the judge can be found here

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