Judge strikes down Affordable Care Act rule over businesses' 'religious beliefs'

A Texas federal judge Thursday struck down a mandate of the Affordable Care Act that requires private health insurance plans to cover preventive care, including for HIV and screenings for cancer and mental health.

District Court Judge Reed O'Connor ruled in favor of a group of Christian businesses that had argued that the preventive-care mandate violates their religious freedom because it includes coverage of pre-exposure prophylaxis drugs that prevent HIV infection.

According to Politico, O'Connor said that the businesses had standing because "compulsory coverage for those services violates their religious beliefs by making them complicit in facilitating homosexual behavior, drug use, and sexual activity outside of marriage between one man and one woman."

The services at risk now include mammograms for breast cancer among women ages 50 to 74, as well as screenings for colon, cervical and lung cancer, sexually transmitted infections and Type 2 diabetes.

The same businesses also sought to overturn a federal mandate that ACA plans must cover birth control with no out-of-pocket costs. However, O'Connor ruled against those claims.

New Jersey Democratic Representative Frank Pallone sharply criticized O'Connor's decision on Thursday.

"I am also calling on all healthcare insurers to commit to continuing to cover all preventive services without cost-sharing while this case is litigated and until final disposition of the lawsuit," Pallone said, according to Politico.

The Biden administration is likely to appeal the ruling.