Missouri legislator sues feds over birth-control mandate

{mosads}The legislator said he was seeking an individual exemption from the mandate, according to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, not a blanket ruling against it.

“I see abortion-inducing drugs as intrinsically evil, and I cannot in good conscience preach one thing to my kids and then just go with the flow on our insurance,” Wieland, who has three daughters, told the Post Dispatch. “This is a moral conundrum for me. Do I just cancel the coverage and put my family at risk? I don’t believe in what the government is doing.”

The suit names the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Treasury Department and the Labor Department.

Wieland’s suit is one of many filed against the contraception mandate nationwide.

A federal appeals court ruled last month that the owners of Conestoga, a private cabinet-making company, could not challenge the mandate because of their personal religious beliefs.

The decision conflicts with an earlier federal appeals court’s ruling, increasing the likelihood that the debate will reach the Supreme Court.