Christian employers challenge Biden mandates to pay for, perform irresponsible, irreversible surgeries

WHO: Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys

WHAT: Available for media interviews following hearing in Christian Employers Alliance v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

WHEN: Monday, May 2, immediately following hearing, which begins at 10 a.m. CDT

WHERE: U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota, William L. Guy Federal Building, 220 East Rosser Ave., Bismarck; to schedule a media interview, contact ADF Director of Media Relations Elizabeth Ray at (202) 440-3767

BISMARCK, N.D. – Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing the Christian Employers Alliance in a lawsuit challenging two Biden administration mandates will be available for media interviews following a hearing in federal district court Monday. The mandates at issue force religious nonprofit and for-profit employers to pay for and perform surgeries, procedures, counseling, and treatments that seek to alter one’s biological sex—actions that violate their religious beliefs.

“All employers, including those in the Christian Employers Alliance, have the constitutional right to conduct their business in a manner consistent with their deeply held religious beliefs,” said ADF Legal Counsel Jacob Reed, who will be arguing before the court on behalf of CEA. “The employers we represent believe that God purposefully created humans as either male or female, and so it would violate their religious beliefs to pay for or perform life-altering medical procedures or surgeries that seek to change one’s biological sex. We urge the court to immediately halt enforcement of these unlawful mandates that disrespect people of faith.”

The lawsuit explains that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is misinterpreting and improperly enforcing discrimination based on sex in Title VII to force religious employers to pay for and provide health insurance coverage for such surgeries and procedures. Additionally, the lawsuit challenges the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ reinterpretation of “sex” in federal law to include gender identity, thereby forcing religious healthcare providers to physically perform or facilitate surgeries and procedures that conflict with their deeply held beliefs.

The HHS mandate also compels religious healthcare providers to speak positively about these procedures even if they disagree with them and prohibits them from sharing their medical opinions or objections. Neither the EEOC nor HHS provide religious exemptions to these mandates. If CEA members fail to comply with these mandates, they face loss of federal funds, the prospect of expensive and burdensome litigation, and in some cases fines, criminal penalties, and attorneys’ fees and costs.

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.

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