Not taking the hint from the litany of lawsuits against the Affordable Care Act already tried and tossed out of court, a Grand Rapids businessman is taking another crack. John Kennedy, CEO of Grand Rapids auto supplier Autocam, sued the federal government in U.S. District Court today.
Kennedy, a Catholic who said he provides healthcare coverage for 680 employees in his U.S. operations, said the law violates his religious beliefs by forcing him to add abortion inducing drugs to his company’s health care coverage plan.
“This law requires me to violate my beliefs by paying for controversial products that cause abortions, and it does nothing to improve access or eliminate cost for essential medications like insulin and heart medication,” said Kennedy.
One problem. None of the contraceptive coverage the ACA asks health insurance companies to cover are “abortion inducing” or “life-ending,” according to science. In fact, a recent study even found that providing free contraception reduces teen pregnancy and abortions. Unfortunately the MLive article never provides this important information to readers, instead simply repeating Mr. Kennedy’s false claims.
Mr. Kennedy’s lies about the actual effects of the Affordable Care Act are really nothing more than political grandstanding – unsurprising from a man who gave $100,000 to the pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future this year, and has made over $500,000 in political contributions to Republican committees since 1998, according to the FEC.
But what’s worse – if unsurprising – is that Mr. Kennedy’s Republican principles don’t prevent him from taking handouts from the government. Autocam doesn’t pay property taxes on its factories in Marshall and Kentwood thanks to special tax abatements. In fact, Autocam hasn’t paid property taxes in Michigan since 1997, when it promised a plan to hire 200 people – but never delivered on that promise.
In 2010, as the auto industry was recovering thanks to the rescue package, Kennedy told the Grand Rapids Press: “Just the ability to start thinking about growth – not being on the defensive anymore – is so positive.”
You have to wonder why a guy who said that would be willing to write such massive checks to a presidential candidate and party who wanted to “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.”