Submit Part II: You Accept Our Money, You Play By Our Rules

"But the Church accepts federal money, so they need to play by federal rules!"

Not necessarily. My response, and then a little more following:
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As a blanket statement, accepting federal money does not mean you forfeit your constitutional rights. For instance, in Louisiana, when the Federal Government tried to force the state to raise the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 on the premise that the state was receiving federal funds for highways, the courts ruled that Louisiana did not have to comply with this federal regulation even though they were receiving federal money.

So the question is, can the federal government override constitutionally protected rights by giving of their money? I'm going to bet no. This mandate does not even exclude organizations which don't accept federal money; it's a red herring argument.
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If this is the game that the federal government is going to play, then the Catholic Church and its organizations need to tell the federal government, "To hell with your money," just as they have told us, "To hell with your beliefs and rights." If the bishops have said that they'd go to jail before complying with this unjust mandate, I'm pretty sure they'll be happy to tell the feds where they can put their money.

This needs to get to the Supreme Court. It doesn't have a leg to stand on. And no, I'm no lawyer. But I know a great one. Thanks, Amazing Advocate!