An anti-abortion legal organization has filed a direct challenge to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ federal contraception mandate on behalf of two Sidney-based companies and their owners.

The Washington D.C.-based American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) this week filed a lawsuit in federal court that contends the mandate violates constitutional and statutory rights by requiring the owners of Freshway Foods and Freshway Logistics of Sidney to provide health coverage, including birth control, for their workers.

The companies’ current insurance excludes coverage for contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, said Edward White, ACLJ senior counsel. That coverage has been offered for more than a decade, he said.

Both companies are owned and operated by Francis A. Gilardi Jr. and Philip M. Gilardi, two brothers who are Catholic. The lawsuit claims the mandate, part of the Affordable Care Act, forces the owners to “violate their religious beliefs and moral values” or face “ruinous” fines and penalties.

The fines for both companies would total more than $14 million annually if they fail to comply, White said.

The Gilardi brothers were not available for comment because of the ongoing litigation, an ACLJ spokesman said.

Freshway Foods trucks bear signs stating, “It’s not a choice, it’s a child,” as a way to promote the owners’ anti-abortion views to the public, according to the legal complaint.

Freshway Foods, a fresh produce processing and packing company, serves 23 states and has 340 full-time employees. Freshway Logistics, a for-hire carrier that transports mainly refrigerated products, has about 55 full-time employees.

The companies face an April 1 renewal date for their health insurance coverage. The lawsuit asks the court to declare the mandate unconstitutional and enter an injunction preventing its application to the companies and their owners.

The lawsuit is the fourth direct challenge in federal court by the ACLJ to the federal mandate. The organization successfully won injunctions in the three other challenges, two in Missouri and one in Illinois, White said.