Feds seek dismissal of contraception mandate challenge filed by Archdiocese of Atlanta

In related coverage, religious colleges involved in a separate challenge to birth control mandate will go to court this week to argue their standing to bring a lawsuit.

The Associated Press/Washington Post: Federal Government Seeks Dismissal Of Suit Over Birth Control Requirement In Health Care Law
The federal government has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta and other religious institutions seeking to overturn a provision in the federal health care law that requires group health plans to provide free birth control (12/11).

McClatchy: Religious Colleges Challenge Health Care Law's Contraception Rule
North Carolina's Belmont Abbey College is trying to resurrect a religious school charge against the Obama administration's signature health care law. But first, the school and its many allies must prove their time has come. On Friday, in a cutting-edge case, attorneys for Belmont Abbey and Illinois-based Wheaton College will try to convince a key appellate court that their challenge to the law's contraception coverage mandate is not premature. If the colleges prevail, they will be poised for a head-on religious liberty showdown. ... The oral argument Friday before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will focus on seemingly technical points called "ripeness" and "standing." Both sound more boring than the First Amendment's guarantee of religious freedom, but both are crucial (Doyle, 12/11).