OC stays out of “Obamacare” lawsuit

Photo by: Amber Smith

 

While Christian universities across Oklahoma have chosen to take legal action against the Affordable Care Act, Oklahoma Christian University has chosen to remain neutral.

Oklahoma Baptist University, Mid-America Christian University, Southern Nazarene University and Oklahoma Wesleyan University have joined the Alliance Defending Freedom in suing the Obama administration and the Affordable Care Act.

According to the Affordable Care Act, it is now federally mandated that employer provided insurance plans cover contraceptives, including what is commonly known as the morning-after pill. A lawsuit has been put in place by the Alliance Defending Freedom to challenge the constitutionality of this new mandate.

“We were contacted by the Alliance Defending Freedom when Dr. O’Neal was still president,” Vice President and General Counsel Stephen Eck said. “We thought we might participate in it but there were several things that came to our attention and ultimately changed our decision.”

Despite originally deciding to work with the Alliance, certain aspects of what Oklahoma Christian would need to provide for the lawsuit played a role in Oklahoma Christian opting out.

“To become a part of the case, the university would have had to come up with a statement saying what it is that the Churches of Christ believe about certain birth controls,” Eck said. “We didn’t feel as though the Churches of Christ should look to Oklahoma Christian to make those decisions for them. [The Alliance] wanted us to be the ones to say what members of the Church of Christ believe and it’s hard to make such a statement because not everybody feels the same way about this issue.”

Through legal battles, the Alliance Defending Freedom has recently been involved in victories against the Affordable Care Act. Recently Geneva College, a Pennsylvania Christian school, has received a temporary injunction against the requirements.

Another victory involved the Hobby Lobby stores who won a preliminary injunction that allowed the company to avoid paying millions of dollars worth of fines for not following the mandate and covering the costs of contraceptives for Hobby Lobby employees.

Greg Baylor, an attorney for the Alliance Defending Freedom, is confident for the possible outcomes, saying that the track record so far is “pretty good.”

Just like Hobby Lobby, these contesting colleges could be facing millions of dollars worth of fines for not complying with the new federal mandate.

While the idea of birth control doesn’t appeal to all, some students feel as though Oklahoma Christian should comply with the laws, since it is federally mandated.

“I can understand the school’s position for not joining in with this alliance,” junior Jerisha Fields said. “Especially since they were expected to give a statement that would represent the Church of Christ as a whole.”

Somer Helms, an Oklahoma Christian junior, agreed.

“It would be nice if OC could have joined with the other colleges in the fight, but I understand why we couldn’t join them at this time,” Helms said. “Hopefully these colleges are successful.”

Getting involved in the case could become distracting, Eck said.

“We would love to see them become successful in their case but at this time we wouldn’t have the ability to focus on that with so many things that have been going on around campus that requires immediate attention,” Eck said. “I think all of us from the administrative team feel sympathetic for what they’re trying to accomplish and hope they’re successful.”

Rather than resist, Helms said playing the waiting game could prove to be the better option for the school.

“For the time being, it was a smart decision on OC’s part to just comply with the mandate,” Helms said. “If we aren’t in a position to join with this alliance, it’s smart to just follow whatever the law says.”

Differing opinions exist on why Oklahoma Christian should comply with the Affordable Care Act.

“Even though it is mandated that OC’s employee and student insurance has to provide birth control if requested and prescribed, going off of the morals that OC has, I don’t think it should be an issue because ideally if everybody feels strongly about it, this part of the Affordable Care Act wouldn’t affect our campus,” junior Carlie Croxton said.

Croxton’s opinion represents much of the student body’s opinion.

“Just because the law says that Oklahoma Christian has to provide these products doesn’t mean that we, as the OC community, have to use it,” Fields said.

Despite not being a part of the Alliance, a majority of students and faculty support it.

“The decision to not join the Alliance Defending Freedom was not an easy one,” Eck said. “On a personal level, it was a cause that all of us would really like to support.”