Denver declines honor for company that challenged Obama mandate
CWN – August 28, 2012
The Denver City Council has backed away from plans to present a “Good Citizenship Award” to a local company that has challenged the Obama administration’s contraceptive mandate in court.
Hercules Industries was to have been honored for its civic contributions and its model labor practices—including its “generous employee health-care coverage.” But City Council member Robin Kniech, who had originally sponsored the honor, said that she had decided not to go through with her plan “in the hope of avoiding a partisan food fight in a rancorous election year.”
In July a federal court granted Hercules Industries an injunction, temporarily halting the implementation of the contraceptive mandate, as part of its challenge to the plan.
Additional sources for this story: Catholic business owners who beat back ObamaCare denied award from Denver (Fox News) www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/08/27/catholic-business-owners-that-fought-off-obamacare-get-proclamation-from-denver/
Archbishop Aquila raps Denver city council decision on Hercules Industries
CWN – September 03, 2012
Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver has decried a decision by the Denver City Council to back away from an honor for a local business, after the firm challenged the HHS contraceptive mandate.
In an op-ed column published in the Denver Post, said that Hercules Industries, which had been slated for a “Good Citizenship Award,” should not be deprived of that honor because the owners’ religious convictions prompted them to challenge the Obama administration in court.
“Choosing to marginalize the owners of Hercules for their religiosity is an insult to the founding values of our nation,” the archbishop wrote.
Additional sources for this story: Hercules Industries should be honored for their religious liberty stance (Denver Post) www.archden.org/index.cfm/ID/8847