For more than a decade, the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Catholic order of nuns, has been fighting the government in court to secure religious exemptions from Obamacare mandates.
In 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act which mandates that almost all private health insurance must cover all FDA-approved contraceptive methods.
The group of nuns, which runs homes for the elderly poor across the U.S., says that their beliefs made compliance with the mandate impossible.
After receiving exemptions in 2017, Pennsylvania and New Jersey filed a lawsuit in hopes of overturning the exemption.
“This is our God-given mission,” said Mother Loraine Marie Maguire of the Little Sisters of the Poor to Becket, a religious liberty law firm. “For nearly 200 years we have welcomed the elderly poor and dying into our homes.”
“With the population of seniors rapidly growing, we cannot allow a government lawsuit to stop us from carrying out our mission. Pennsylvania and New Jersey can keep fighting if they want. All we want is to keep serving.”
Becket says that they expect a decision to be reached before the end of the year.
Beliefs incompatible with Affordable Care Act
Under the contraceptive mandate of the Affordable Care Act, nearly all private insurances must provide coverage for sex education and sterilization procedures which can be incompatible with religious teachings.
The mandate also requires employers to provide contraceptives that can cause what some religious groups consider abortions, such as the week-after pill.
The Catholic group is being represented by Becket, a law firm that specializes in religious liberty law. Mark Rienzi, president of Becket, said, “For 15 years, government officials have stepped into the ring with the Little Sisters and gotten pummeled every time.”
“You’d think Pennsylvania and New Jersey would know better by now — but some bureaucrats are just gluttons for punishment. We’re confident the court will deliver yet another victory protecting the Little Sisters’ ministry to the most vulnerable.”
3 straight wins at the Supreme Court
In 2020, alongside the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the Little Sisters of the Poor won a battle at the U.S. Supreme Court which decided the Department of Health and Human Services had lawfully granted exemptions to religious groups.
Pennsylvania and New Jersey are now litigating in federal court to have the religious exemptions stripped from the group. They argue that the exemption will prevent thousands of women from receiving contraceptive coverage.
Before 2020, the ministry group prevailed at the High Court in 2013 when it was allowed an emergency injunction which gave them an exemption. In 2014, they received an injunction from the Supreme Court that protected the nuns until legal proceedings concluded.
In 2017, HHS, under the Trump administration, gave exemptions to religious nonprofits protecting them from the contraceptive mandate.