In 2011, the Obama Administration decided to use the heavy hand of the federal government to force almost every healthcare plan to include coverage of female sterilization and contraception, including those methods that work as abortifacients. Only a very narrow category of religious entities (primarily houses of worship) are exempted, leaving many Catholic/religious institutions (schools, hospitals, social services, etc.) and every for-profit business still subject to the mandate.
With good reason, those who are not exempted from this offensive and unjust mandate strongly objected to the Administration’s unprecedented infringement upon their religious freedom. However, instead of accepting the much broader religious exemption long enshrined in other areas of federal law, the Obama Administration dug in its heals and accused objectors of engaging in a “war on women.”
Ironically, this phony “war on women” has been turned upside down with the help and faithfulness of the Little Sisters of the Poor. This order of nuns operates thirty homes in the United States where it cares for impoverished elderly and dying persons. Worldwide, the Little Sisters serve more than 13,000 elderly poor people in thirty-one countries.
In the mind of the Obama Administration, however, the Little Sisters are not “religious” enough to be considered a religious employer exempted from this mandate. Why? Because they don’t limit their service primarily to Catholics and will serve anyone in need.
To their eternal credit, the Little Sisters refuse to violate Catholic moral teaching by submitting to the Administration’s bullying. Consequently, they sued the federal government for violating their religious liberty and, thanks be to God, have been granted preliminary relief from the mandate by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Little Sisters case is before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals but this Court refused to grant injunctive relief to the Sisters while the case is being adjudicated. So the Sisters appealed that decision to the Supreme Court and, on January 24th, were granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting enforcement of the mandate until the Circuit Court rules on the merits of the case.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which provides legal representation for the Little Sisters, said in a news release:
“The injunction means that the Little Sisters will not be forced to sign and deliver the controversial government forms authorizing and instructing their benefits administrator to provide contraceptives, sterilization, and drugs and devices that may cause early abortions. The Court’s order also provides protection to more than 400 other Catholic organizations that receive health benefits through the same Catholic benefits provider, Christian Brothers.”
On its excellent website (becketfund.org), the Becket Fund keeps track of the 92 lawsuits that have been filed against the mandate. Half of these lawsuits have been filed by for-profit employers and half by non-profit employers. Nineteen of the non-profit employers (like the Little Sisters) have received injunctive relief and only one has been denied relief.
For-profit employers are having equally good success with 33 receiving injunctive relief and only six being denied relief, so far. Two of these for-profit cases, Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood, are currently before the U.S. Supreme Court with rulings expected this June.
As of January 30, there were 81 amicus (friend of the Court) briefs submitted to the Supreme Court in these two cases. More than 70 percent (58) of the briefs were in support of Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood. These included briefs by 107 bipartisan members of Congress (including 5 of Nebraska’s 6 members of Congress), 20 states (including Nebraska), leading scholars, doctors and women’s organizations, prominent Protestant and Catholic theologians and a diversity of religious groups.
All of these briefs are posted on the Becket Fund website mentioned previously. I encourage you to go to the website and read the brief submitted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. And while you are on the website, check out the great video about those “rockstar” Little Sisters!
