Judge: Company Not Required to Offer Contraception

ST. JOSEPH (AP) - A central Minnesota businessman has gotten a temporary break from a new federal requirement to provide mandatory contraception coverage to his employees.

U.S. District Court Judge John Tunheim has granted a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the contraception provision of the federal law for Greg Hall, owner of American Manufacturing Co. in St. Joseph.

Hall is a Catholic deacon who objects to providing insurance that covers contraception, sterilization and abortion drugs.

Hall worked with his insurance company, Medica, to cut that coverage from the company's health insurance plan. Hall's attorney, Thomas Matthews, tells the St. Cloud Times (http://on.sctimes.com/12feOyn ) Hall finds the coverage morally objectionable.

The new federal law requires employers to offer insurance that includes contraception coverage or risk fines.