SIOUX CENTER, Iowa (AP) – The Obama administration is asking a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Christian colleges in Iowa and Michigan over a mandate requiring health insurance plans to provide free birth control coverage. The Justice Department said in a filing last week the legal challenge by Dordt College and Cornerstone University is a meritless attempt to prevent their female employees from obtaining coverage.

Sioux Center, Iowa-based Dordt and Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Cornerstone filed the lawsuit last year. They claim that a mandate in the Affordable Care Act that requires insurance plans to provide birth control pills without co-pays violates their religious freedom since they oppose the use of contraception. The Obama administration says the mandate accommodates religious-based employers by requiring insurers and third-party plan administrators to pay for that coverage.