President Donald Trump's administration will continue to fight religious groups over the Obamacare requirement that employers must provide their employees with birth control, despite Trump's promise to reverse it, The Washington Post reports.
Last week, the attorneys representing East Texas Baptist University, along with various religious and nonprofit groups who seek to change the requirement, asked the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to "allow the current stay to expire as scheduled on April 24," according to TalkingPointsMemo.
The plaintiffs argued that since "the government's position in this case has also changed dramatically… in ways that make any continuation of the government's appeal untenable. It is now high time for the Department of Justice to admit defeat and dismiss this appeal."
Trump's Justice Department responded Monday, asking the court for another 60 days to negotiate with East Texas Baptist University and the other groups seeking to change the requirement, according to the Post.
Their representation issued a petition to the Fifth Circuit, in which they argued that "this litigation has gone on long enough. It is time for the Department of Justice to move on, and to allow the court, the universities and other religious ministries to move on as well."
Justice responded by citing the large number of vacant positions in the Cabinet and other federal agencies, and that "the issues presented by the Supreme Court's remand order are complex."
An attorney with the plaintiff's law firm, Becket, told the Post that the department's actions seem "very contrary to what they've been saying publicly."
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