The long march of religious liberty exemptions is gaining speed. The people who brought you contraceptive care exemptions and COVID rule and vaccine exemptions have now moved on to insurance for anti-HIV drugs. Last week, a federal district court held that a Christian employer is entitled to an exemption from the requirement that all insurance plans must cover pre-exposure prophylaxis (PreP) drugs that prevent the spread of HIV.
Superficially, the court’s decision, under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), seems to resemble the exemption from the Affordable Care Act’s mandatory contraceptive coverage that the Supreme Court granted in the 2014 Hobby Lobby case. But on a deeper level, the new decision goes much further than the Hobby Lobby decision.
If upheld by the appellate court and the Supreme Court, the Texas ruling would exempt an employer who refused to provide any health care coverage of any kind on the ground that medical insurance encourages people to rely on medical science, not religious faith, in planning their lives.
