Texas judge rules coverage of anti-HIV medicine violates religious freedom

A federal judge in Texas ruled on Wednesday that a mandate requiring most health insurance companies to cover medicine that prevents HIV infection violates the religious freedom of certain businesses.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor partially resolves a lawsuit brought by Braidwood Management Inc., a Christian for-profit corporation owned by Republican mega-donor Steven Hotze that employs about 70 people.

Hotze claimed that forcing his company to cover pre-exposure prophylaxis drugs, more commonly known as PrEP, under the Affordable Care Act would make the company “facilitate and encourage homosexual behavior.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, PrEP “reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99% … [and] the risk of getting HIV from injection drug use by at least 74%.”

The CDC recommends the use of PrEP to people at high risk of contracting HIV, including men who have sex with men.