Union wins lawsuit against HHS

For the school, they viewed the mandate as a violation of their religious liberties and wanted the freedom to design a plan that is more in line with their values.

"We wanted not only be able to believe in life begins at conception but to be able to design a health plan for our employees that follow that belief that life begins at conception" said Union President Samuel "Dub" Oliver.

Oliver says they tried every method of petition possible to be exempt from the birth control mandate before resorting to the law suit

"We had expressed our concerns through the regular regulatory process. Through our elected representatives and those sort of things. Once we realized the federal government was not going to recognize our concerns our last resort was to take the federal government to court."

According to President Oliver the school was characterized as wanting to limit their female employees healthcare, which he says is far from the truth.

"We can be characterized in the media as people who are opposed to women's healthcare but that can't be further from the truth. We provide fantastic healthcare for all of our employees, men and women both."

For President Oliver, this victory feels very reminiscent of a popular bible story

In some ways it feels like David taking on Goliath, union universality a school from Jackson Tennessee taking on the federal government

Union says with the settlement of the lawsuit, the University is exempt from any future healthcare mandates requiring the purchase of birth control pills such as plan B... And will be getting the majority of their legal fees paid for by the federal government.

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