Health-law challenge is rejected

A federal appeals court ruled Friday against the Mennonite owners of a central Pennsylvania cabinetmaker who claimed new health-insurance requirements that they pay for employees' contraceptive services violated their First Amendment rights.

The 2-1 decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld a decision that Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. of East Earl, Lancaster County, does not qualify for the exemption because it is a for-profit company making a secular product with no formal ties to a church or other religious group.

Conestoga employs about 950 people and is owned by Anthony Hahn and his family. The employer requirement applies to companies with 50 or more full-time workers.

Conestoga's health plan had excluded coverage for contraceptives and "morning-after" drugs, citing Mennonite teaching that terminating a fertilized embryo is "evil and a sin against God." Conestoga argued that the health-care law's requirement to pay for birth control violated the Hahns' religion, while disobeying it would subject them to crippling fines.

Conestoga attorney Charles W. Proctor III told the Third Circuit court last month that the firm was complying with the mandate because it could not afford potential penalties of $100 a day per affected employee.

Proctor said Friday he planned to file a request next week to have the case heard by the full Third Circuit court.