Pa. Christian college sues over birth-control regs

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A Christian college in western Pennsylvania has sued the federal government, saying that requiring employers to offer birth-control coverage that includes drugs that abort fertilized embryos are “directly at odds with the religious message it wishes to convey.”

The lawsuit filed today by Geneva College by the Alliance Defense Fund, also says that President Barack Obama’s announced compromise on the issue is “fictitious.”

The lawsuit wants a judge to rule that the regulations violate the rights of the college and similar faith-based or church-related groups, and an order exempting the school in Beaver Falls, Pa., from complying with the “preventive services” or birth-control mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.

Officials with the Department of Health and Human Services, which have taken the lead on the regulations, say they don’t comment on litigation.