Domino’s Founder Wins Against Obamacare Mandate

Thomas Monaghan, founder and former owner of Domino’s Pizza, will not be forced to comply with Obamacare’s anti-conscience mandate while his lawsuit against the coercive rule proceeds.

Domino Farms, Monaghan’s current property management company in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was awarded a preliminary injunction against the mandate this week by a federal judge.

Monaghan should “not be compelled to act in conflict with his religious beliefs,” wrote U.S. District Judge Lawrence Zatgoff in issuing the halt against the mandate. Domino Farms had earlier received a temporary restraining order against the mandate.

A devout Catholic and philanthropist, Monaghan seeks to operate his business in accordance with his deeply held beliefs, including offering an employee health plan that aligns with those values. But under Obamacare, Domino Farms would be forced to pay for abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization—regardless of Monaghan’s belief that such services are “gravely immoral.”

The Obama Administration’s persistent refusal to allow all Americans to serve, work, and operate businesses according to their deeply held beliefs is endangering the futures of countless organizations and companies.

The Administration has explicitly denied for-profit companies, such as Monaghan’s Domino Farms, any protection from the Obamacare mandate—ignoring the role of faith and values in some business owners’ work and success. Instead, the Administration places job-creating employers in an impossible situation, forced to violate their beliefs or face crippling fines for non-compliance.

The totality of Obamacare’s coercive dictates has placed employers in what Judge Zatgoff calls a “‘Catch-22’ dilemma.” Even if objecting employers drop health insurance coverage altogether, as Monaghan and many others might ultimately be forced to do, Obamacare still penalizes employers. For Domino Farms, that could mean over $200,000 in fines per year.

For these reasons, over 150 plaintiffs, almost two dozen of which are for-profit employers and family-owned companies, have filed 50 lawsuits over the mandate so far.

The serious and imminent threats posed by Obamacare are numerous, especially for employers who stand to be crushed under the weight of numerous coercive and costly mandates. In usurping control of insurance markets and granting authority over personal health care decisions to unaccountable bureaucrats, Obamacare is jeopardizing individuals’ constitutional liberties.

However, true health reform—that respects fundamental rights and empowers individuals to have control over their own health care through the free market—is possible. The first step is rescinding the anti-conscience mandate. But more fully protecting Americans’ liberties will require full repeal of Obamacare.