In a victory for religious freedom and the order of the Little Sisters of the Poor, the US Supreme Court ruled 7-2 yesterday in favour of a Trump administration exemption to an Obama-era  mandate obliging employers to provide for contraceptive and abortifacient coverage for employees through their health care plans.

“For over 150 years, the Little Sisters have engaged in faithful service and sacrifice, motivated by a religious calling to surrender all for the sake of their brother,” wrote Justice Clarence Thomas for the majority.

“But for the past seven years, they—like many other religious objectors who have participated in the litigation and rulemakings leading up to today’s decision— have had to fight for the ability to continue in their noble work without violating their sincerely held religious beliefs.”

The Court’s majority ruled against procedural objections brought by the states of Pennsylvania and California. The Court, however, left the door open for further litigation against the Sisters on other grounds, a fact that Justices Alito and Gorsuch lamented as, they said, the losing states “are all but certain to pursue their argument that the current rule is flawed on yet another ground, namely, that it is arbitrary and capricious and thus violates the APA.”