Wheaton College, a school of about 3,000, announced it is dropping student health insurance coverage in objection of the Obamacare contraception mandate. Photo by Henryk Sadura/Shutterstock

CHICAGO, July 30 (UPI) -- Wheaton College, a Christian liberal arts school of about 3,000, announced it is dropping student health insurance coverage in objection to the Obamacare contraception mandate.

The decision, announced July 10, will halt healthcare coverage Friday for the 2015-2016 school year for about a quarter of the undergraduate and graduate students. Faculty and staff are not affected.


Wheaton College was among several Christian nonprofits that argued the Affordable Care Act mandate that requires contraceptives violates their religious beliefs. Two years ago, the Obama administration set a compromise that requires religious institutions to "self-certify" to their insurance carriers in a written statement that they object on religious grounds to providing contraception coverage. Various nonprofits, including Wheaton, said signing the form also infringes on their religious freedoms. The school's lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services is pending.

"What has brought us here is about student health insurance, but it's bigger than student health insurance," Paul Chelsen, Wheaton's vice president of student development, said. "What really breaks my heart is that there are real people that are affected by our decision. But if we don't win this case, the implications down the road in terms of what the government will tell us what we can and cannot do will be potentially more significant.

The decision by the college does not leave a lot of time for the some 700 uninsured students to scramble for coverage. In 2010, Wheaton added a requirement that students enroll in or provide proof of insurance every year.