Wall Street Journal - Contraception Violates Beliefs, Firms Tell Court

By Ben Kesling and Louise Randofsky, Online.WSJ.com

Two small-business owners challenging contraception-coverage mandates in the federal health-care law told a federal appellate court Wednesday the law would force them to violate their beliefs because they run their businesses in accordance with their religious faith.

The Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago is the first federal appellate court to hear arguments in cases challenging the mandate that took effect last August for most employers to cover contraception, including the morning-after pill, in workers' insurance plans without out-of-pocket costs. . . .

One of the cases before the Seventh Circuit was brought by K&L Contractors Inc. and its owners, who argued that the general contractor's corporate mission mirrors that of its directors and majority owners. Cyril and Jane Korte, who own the company, are Roman Catholics. "A company is an extension" of its owners' beliefs, said Edward White, K&L's lawyer. . . .

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