Additional Resources Department Links Appellate Civil Criminal Consumer Protection Medical Fraud Control Unit Division of Criminal Investigation Employment Opportunities John R Justice Program Attorney General Biography Media Press Releases Publications Official Opinions Criminal Justice Directory Technology Contacts DCI History AG Jackley Joins Challenge to Affordable Healthcare Act PIERRE, S.D. - Attorney General Marty Jackley announces that South Dakota has joined 20 other State Attorneys General in an amicus or “friend of the court” brief, challenging the Affordable Care Act’s “contraceptive mandate”. The States ask the United States Supreme Court to consider an exemption from the contraceptive mandate for religious nonprofits organizations. The amicus brief argues the contraception mandate violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) as applied to nonprofit religious employers. “The federal government has gone too far with the passage and implementation of mandated healthcare that fails to protect the most basic and important sincerely held religious beliefs. The federal government should and must respect sincerely held religious beliefs,” said Jackley. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) adopted a regulatory accommodation that some nonprofit religious employers find objectionable under their religious beliefs. Challenging the authority of HHS to promulgate this rule, the brief argues it makes little sense to exclude religious nonprofits from this contraceptive mandate in light of the exemptions for most churches, small employers and employers with grandfathered plans. There is no cost to the State of South Dakota for its participation in this multi-state litigation.
AG Jackley Joins Challenge to Affordable Healthcare Act PIERRE, S.D. - Attorney General Marty Jackley announces that South Dakota has joined 20 other State Attorneys General in an amicus or “friend of the court” brief, challenging the Affordable Care Act’s “contraceptive mandate”. The States ask the United States Supreme Court to consider an exemption from the contraceptive mandate for religious nonprofits organizations. The amicus brief argues the contraception mandate violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) as applied to nonprofit religious employers. “The federal government has gone too far with the passage and implementation of mandated healthcare that fails to protect the most basic and important sincerely held religious beliefs. The federal government should and must respect sincerely held religious beliefs,” said Jackley. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) adopted a regulatory accommodation that some nonprofit religious employers find objectionable under their religious beliefs. Challenging the authority of HHS to promulgate this rule, the brief argues it makes little sense to exclude religious nonprofits from this contraceptive mandate in light of the exemptions for most churches, small employers and employers with grandfathered plans. There is no cost to the State of South Dakota for its participation in this multi-state litigation.
