Bartlesville Radio: The area’s best source for news, weather and sports!

With Donald Trump's recent HHS Announcement, Dr. Everett Piper of Oklahoma Wesleyan University has made a statement. The Trump administration has expanded legal protections for organizations that object to providing abortion-inducing drugs and devices in their health plans. An Affordable Care Act regulation forced many employers to cover such drugs, and the previous administration exempted only a very narrow category of conscientious objectors. Today’s rules exempt Catholic charities, Christian colleges and other organizations that object to providing certain drugs to the employees, either on religious or moral grounds. The new rules go into effect immediately.

Dr. Piper, says “OKWU is pleased that the Trump administration has corrected the government overreach of its predecessor and has, thereby, chosen to honor the 1st Amendment rights of our university and its employees. We are grateful. We however want to make it crystal clear that given the issuance of this rule, there is no reason for the Department of Justice to continue litigating against us. We will only consider this case closed when the DOJ agrees to cease litigation and to reaches a solution that permanently protects our religious freedom.”