Posted on 07/08/2020 8:07:30 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
The Supreme Court upheld exemptions for the contraceptive mandate under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for entities with religious or moral objections in Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania. The order of nuns has faced nearly a decade of court battles after the Obama administration refused to allow exemptions to the mandate for religious entities.
While President Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) threatened the order with fines for non-compliance, the Little Sisters argue that the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act (RFRA) protects them from the far-reaching mandate.
The Trump administration allowed exemptions to the provision and the court upheld them in a 7-2 ruling, with Justice Clarence Thomas authoring the majority opinion, writing:
“Consistent with their Catholic faith, the Little Sisters hold the religious conviction ‘that deliberately avoiding reproduction through medical means is immoral.’ They challenged the self certification accommodation, claiming that completing the certification form would force them to violate their religious beliefs by ‘tak[ing] actions that directly cause others to provide contraception or appear to participate in the Departments’ delivery scheme,’ he wrote. “It is clear from the face of the statute that the contraceptive mandate is capable of violating RFRA. The ACA does not explicitly exempt RFRA, and the regulations implementing the contraceptive mandate qualify as ‘Federal law’ or ‘the implementation of [Federal] law.’”
Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor dissented, citing out-of pocket costs for contraception and accessibility.
Good.
Sotomayer ought be ashamed of herself, having been the benefactor of a good Catholic education in the Bronx.
“ deliberately avoiding reproduction through medical means is immoral”
I hope This resonates with people. The defiance of this truth is the root of a great majority of our cultural problems
The Little Sisters are convinced enough of its importance to bring it as far as a decade long fight all the way to the the Supreme Court.
7-2
Good. I’ll cheer a lot louder when Obamacare is completely thrown out.
...
“ having been the benefactor of a good Catholic education”
At school or in the home, her Catholic formation is lacking, along with that of about 70% of Catholics participating in and enabling artificial birth control. It is evil.
God bless the Little Sisters. Gotta give credit to Kagan and Breyer. Shame on Sotomayor.
More winning.
Happy Dance!
I am aware of Sotomayor being more pro-Catholic in her pre-SCOTUS days. Including in her decisions as judge in lower courts. She’s changed. Turned more left under Obama and also feels need to spite Trump.
Sotomayer. Really?
I can’t imagine how anyone thinks that any person connected to the Clintons can be a practicing believing Catholic.
Taking communion, believing in the real presence while as much as voting for these cretins, these abortion promoters
Alito/Gorsuch starts on page 31. 19-pages long.
Excellent, but it’s not part of the majority opinion.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/19-431_5i36.pdf
A win for the Little Sisters of the Poor.
This exemption clause was challenged by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania who filed an action seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, before the District Court. The District Court issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against the implementation of the final rules. The Government and Little Sisters (an international congregation of Roman Catholic women religious) appealed before the Third Circuit which affirmed the District Court findings. It was held that the Departments lacked authority to craft the exemptions. - https://www.livelaw.in/foreign-international/religious-moral-exemption-contraceptive-mandate-scotus-159598#:~:text=The%20Supreme%20Court%20of%20the%20United%20States%20%285%3A4%29,to%20their%20employees%20through%20their%20group%20health%20plans.
Lower courts were indeed lower on this one.
Meanwhile, only 16 posts on this report? Sad.
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