The
Little Sisters of the Poor have been granted an injunction by the U.S
Supreme court, temporarily freeing them from the obligation to obey
the Obama Administration’s ‘HHS Mandate’ requiring employers to include
contraceptives and abortifacients in their employees’ health
insurance policies.
The
Court re-affirmed an earlier temporary injunction granted by Justice
Sonia Sotomayor, which will remain in effect until the merits of
their case is decided by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.
According
to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is co-sponsoring the
Sisters’ lawsuit, the Court’s order also provides protection to more
than 400 other Catholic organisations that receive health benefits
through the same Catholic benefits provider, the Christian Brothers.
While
the mandate does have a waiver for certain religious organisations,
The Little Sisters and the Christian Brothers had objected to being
required to justify to the government that they should be entitled to
an exemption. They said that filling out the paperwork for a waiver
would involve instructing a third party to provide the coverage for
contraception and abortifacient drugs, and that this would amount to
them being part of the mechanism for providing abortion and other
morally objectionable types of coverage.
Mark
Rienzi, Senior Counsel for the Becket Fund, said “We are delighted
that the Supreme Court has issued this order protecting the Little
Sisters. The government has lots of ways to deliver contraceptives to
people–it doesn’t need to force nuns to participate.”
The
Supreme Court made it clear that the injunction “should not be construed as an
expression of the court’s views on the merits” of the Little
Sisters’ case.
Meanwhile,
the Ethics and Public Policy centre has filed an amicus brief in
another mandate related case, that of arts and crafts store Hobby
Lobby and other corporations with a religious ethos against the
department of Health and Human Services. The EPPC’s brief argues that
if the Administration’s argument is successful, it will allow the
government to “make any market for goods or services a
Free-Exercise-Free Zone simply by the artifice of placing whatever
obligations it wants on corporate entities rather than on natural
persons. In the Government’s view of the matter, an incorporated
kosher deli could be forced to carry non-kosher goods; an independent
Catholic hospital with a lay board could be required to provide
abortions; a closely-held market owned by Seventh-day Adventists
could be required to open on Saturdays; and an incorporated retail
store owned by Muslims could be forced to carry liquor.”
The
Little Sisters of the Poor have been granted an injunction by the U.S
Supreme court, temporarily freeing them from the obligation to obey
the Obama’s ‘HHS Mandate’ requiring employers to include
contraceptives and abortifacients in their employees’ health
insurance policies.
The
Court re-affirmed an earlier temporary injunction granted by Justice
Sonia Sotomayor, which will remain in effect until the merits of
their case is decided by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.
According
to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is co-sponsoring the
Sisters’ lawsuit, the Court’s order also provides protection to more
than 400 other Catholic organisations that receive health benefits
through the same Catholic benefits provider, the Christian Brothers.
While
the mandate does have a waiver for certain religious organisations,
The Little Sisters and the Christian Brothers had objected to being
required to justify to the government that they should be entitled to
an exemption. They said that filling out the paperwork for a waiver
would involve instructing a third party to provide the coverage for
contraception and abortifacient drugs, and that this would amount to
them being part of the mechanism for providing abortion and other
morally objectionable types of coverage.
Mark
Rienzi, Senior Counsel for the Becket Fund, said “We are delighted
that the Supreme Court has issued this order protecting the Little
Sisters. The government has lots of ways to deliver contraceptives to
people–it doesn’t need to force nuns to participate.”
The
Supreme Court made it clear that it “should not be construed as an
expression of the court’s views on the merits” of the Little
Sisters’ case.
Meanwhile,
the Ethics and Public Policy centre has filed an amicus brief in
another mandate related case, that of arts and crafts store Hobby
Lobby and other corporations with a religious ethos against the
department of Health and Human Services. The EPPC’s brief argues that
if the Administration’s argument is successful, it will allow the
government to “make any market for goods or services a
Free-Exercise-Free Zone simply by the artifice of placing whatever
obligations it wants on corporate entities rather than on natural
persons. In the Government’s view of the matter, an incorporated
kosher deli could be forced to carry non-kosher goods; an independent
Catholic hospital with a lay board could be required to provide
abortions; a closely-held market owned by Seventh-day Adventists
could be required to open on Saturdays; and an incorporated retail
store owned by Muslims could be forced to carry liquor.”
The
Little Sisters of the Poor have been granted an injunction by the U.S
Supreme court, temporarily freeing them from the obligation to obey
the Obama’s ‘HHS Mandate’ requiring employers to include
contraceptives and abortifacients in their employees’ health
insurance policies.
The
Court re-affirmed an earlier temporary injunction granted by Justice
Sonia Sotomayor, which will remain in effect until the merits of
their case is decided by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.
According
to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is co-sponsoring the
Sisters’ lawsuit, the Court’s order also provides protection to more
than 400 other Catholic organisations that receive health benefits
through the same Catholic benefits provider, the Christian Brothers.
While
the mandate does have a waiver for certain religious organisations,
The Little Sisters and the Christian Brothers had objected to being
required to justify to the government that they should be entitled to
an exemption. They said that filling out the paperwork for a waiver
would involve instructing a third party to provide the coverage for
contraception and abortifacient drugs, and that this would amount to
them being part of the mechanism for providing abortion and other
morally objectionable types of coverage.
Mark
Rienzi, Senior Counsel for the Becket Fund, said “We are delighted
that the Supreme Court has issued this order protecting the Little
Sisters. The government has lots of ways to deliver contraceptives to
people–it doesn’t need to force nuns to participate.”
The
Supreme Court made it clear that it “should not be construed as an
expression of the court’s views on the merits” of the Little
Sisters’ case.
Meanwhile,
the Ethics and Public Policy centre has filed an amicus brief in
another mandate related case, that of arts and crafts store Hobby
Lobby and other corporations with a religious ethos against the
department of Health and Human Services. The EPPC’s brief argues that
if the Administration’s argument is successful, it will allow the
government to “make any market for goods or services a
Free-Exercise-Free Zone simply by the artifice of placing whatever
obligations it wants on corporate entities rather than on natural
persons. In the Government’s view of the matter, an incorporated
kosher deli could be forced to carry non-kosher goods; an independent
Catholic hospital with a lay board could be required to provide
abortions; a closely-held market owned by Seventh-day Adventists
could be required to open on Saturdays; and an incorporated retail
store owned by Muslims could be forced to carry liquor.”