The speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives, Frank McNulty, has issued a commendation to mark the the 50th anniversary of Hercules Industries, a family-owned Denver HVAC company.

McNulty did so after Denver’s plans for a proclamation celebrating Hercules were nixed on account of the lawsuit Hercules filed and the injunction the business, owned by the Catholic Newland family, won to protect them from the HHS abortion-inducing drug, sterilization, and contraception mandate that would have gone into effect for them on August 1 without the injunction.

Upon learning that the Denver proclamation would not be, Bill Newland wrote to the councilwoman who had originally pursued the proclamation and subsequently killed it:

A public Proclamation such as this is an honor and certainly one in which you have the right to bestow and also withdraw as you are doing. I want you to know that Hercules Industries will go on operating as we have for 50 years in the City and County of Denver and surrounding areas. We will continue creating jobs and investing in our business as we always have. We will continue to treat our properties with respect and pride. We will continue to create a tax revenue base for Denver through our business activities. We will continue to offer our employees one of the best health care plans in our region, if not the United States, as ranked by the Mountain States Employers Council. If your determination is that we are a different company as a result of our stance on the Freedom of Religion issue, I do not agree for reasons stated above, but I respect and accept your decision.

The commendation praised the Newlands for continued commitment to their employees, community and historic preservation.” The Newlands are represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom in their lawsuit, Newland v. Sebelius.