Baptist Briefs: Appeals court hears GuideStone challenge to Obamacare

GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention told the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver that required coverage of contraceptives under the Affordable Care Act substantially burdens its religious freedom. GuideStone joined as a plaintiff in one of three lawsuits argued on behalf of religious nonprofits who object to the contraception mandate on moral grounds. The act exempts houses of worship from the requirement but not organizations like faith-based colleges and hospitals that employ people outside of their faith and serve a broader audience than the local church. The government crafted an accommodation allowing such employers with sincere religious objections to opt out, as long as coverage of FDA-approved forms of birth control are covered cost-free through a third-party vendor. Religious groups including GuideStone contend the act of filing a form with the government indicating their refusal still makes them complicit in the sale of intrauterine devices and emergency contraceptive pills that they believe kill a living embryo and therefore are not birth control but abortion.

Brewton-Parker regains accreditation. The college commission of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools voted to reaffirm the accreditation of Brewton-Parker College in Mount Vernon, Ga., reversing a decision in June to strip the Georgia Baptist Convention-related school of accreditation and put it at risk of not qualifying for federal financial aid. The SACS Commission on Colleges voted June 19 to terminate the college’s accreditation for failure to comply with membership standards of financial stability during a maximum of two years on probation. Brewton-Parker filed an appeal. An appeals committee in September upheld the decision but allowed college officials to submit new financial information that the appeals group warranted sufficient for reconsideration by the accrediting body’s board in December. The new vote removed Brewton-Parker from probation, giving the school a clean bill of health for the first time since it was placed on probation in July 2012.