Lawmaker Fights for Exemption from HHS Mandate

Catholic Missouri lawmaker Paul Wieland is continuing the fight against Obamacare's birth control mandate.

The Republican state representative is contesting a lower court's rejection of his challenge. He says the required contraception coverage in his state-sponsored insurance plan violates his family's faith and his civil rights, which should be protected under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard his lawyer's oral arguments Monday against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and two other federal agencies.

Wieland's attorney, Timothy Belz, referenced the Supreme Court's decision that companies with religious objections can opt out of the requirement. 
  
"This case has to win because it simply can't be fair that Hobby Lobby can have these rights and individuals don't," Belz said.

The federal government argued that group insurance coverage can't be individually tailored for each employee.