5 things to know about Pam Bondi, Trump's new AG pick
Spearheaded litigation against Obamacare
Throughout Bondi's tenure as Florida's attorney general, the debate about Obamacare loomed large in American politics. She was one of seven attorneys general who filed a lawsuit against the sweeping healthcare law, also known as the Affordable Care Act, over its requirement that employers provide coverage for contraception in their employer-sponsored healthcare plans.
Critics of the contraception mandate maintained that forcing religious employers to cover their employees' birth control if doing so conflicted with their sincerely held religious beliefs amounted to a violation of religious freedom.
"Government has no business forcing religious institutions and individuals to violate their sincerely held beliefs," Bondi said at the time. "This lawsuit is about protecting religious liberty and the rights of conscience, our most basic freedoms as Americans."
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The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ruled in 2014 that Christian-owned businesses did not have to include contraceptive coverage in their employer-sponsored healthcare plans in response to a separate lawsuit filed by Hobby Lobby.
Bondi was also the lead attorney general in the "individual mandate" case seeking to overturn the Affordable Care Act as unconstitutional.
While a district court judge ruled in favor of the state of Florida in 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the lower court decision in its 2012 ruling upholding the law.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]
