The compromise floated by the Supreme Court eliminated the notification requirement and allowed the organizations to purchase insurance plans without birth control coverage, though it still gave the government the authority to arrange that coverage separately through the organizations’ insurance carriers.
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Thus, the justices unanimously sent all of the cases raising the question back to their respective federal appeals courts-seven in total-including some cases that arrived at the high court after the first set had been taken up for argument.
The justices in previous decisions since 2012 had fended off other major conservative challenges to the Obamacare law, considered President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement.
Fox News reported the case more than likely will not reach the Supreme Court again until after the 2016 presidential election.
The outcome suggested the court lacked a majority for such a significant ruling, underscoring the effect of Scalia’s absence. Apparently, the justices think they have found a solution that would prevent the religious groups from feeling “complicit in sin” by notifying the government about their objections, so as to force their insurance companies to provide the coverage for free.
Monday’s ruling allows the government to provide contraceptive coverage to the dozens of groups involved in the lawsuit, but it also says the government can not impose fines on those groups for refusing to comply the original coverage rules.
Bishop Lawrence Persico has received word that the Supreme Court case involving the Affordable Care Act and mandated contraception is moving back to circuit court where a resolution will be made. The religious groups signaled support for such an alternative, and the Obama administration said it could not be ruled out. “One immediate issue is how soon the government can work out the technical arrangements to provide actual access to the contraceptive benefits”.
At stake in Zubik vs. Burwell was whether employees of religiously affiliated organizations such as universities, hospitals and charities could be stripped of their rights to contraceptive coverage.
In this case, the Supreme Court has left it to the voters be the judges.
Adam Jed, representing the Department of Justice, argued that the government already created adequate exemptions for religious organizations, and the opt-out form helped the government track which employers were not providing contraceptives.
Severino and Slattery add, “In the coming months, the lower courts will reconsider these challenges but it is hard to see how the administration and the lower courts can find a way to get around the Supreme Court’s unanimous order – making the decision a big victory for the Little Sisters of the Poor”.
And yet, in deciding not to decide between the two and tossing it off to the lower courts to the right balance, the opinion tells the tale of Kennedy’s own agonized indecision, particularly when it comes to women’s reproductive health. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court looks to be one justice short for the foreseeable future, as Republicans in Congress have rejected any possibility of considering Merrick Garland, President Obama’s nominee for the bench.
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At issue in Zubik is a regulation that requires non-profits to cover certain contraceptives in their health insurance plans. However, if they did not follow the Obamacare mandate, they faced fines that could deplete their finances. “In particular, the court does not decide whether petitioners’ religious exercise has been substantially burdened”, the unsigned ruling stated.
