His legal options running out, former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell on Thursday turned to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking that he be allowed to stay out of prison while he makes his final appeal on public corruption convictions. The court will hear Maureen McDonnell’s case in October.
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In a ruling issued earlier today, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a claim from a coalition of Catholic organizations, which argued the Department of Health and Human Service’s workaround to the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby ruling violates their religious freedom.
However, they say that their service is now threatened by the federal contraception mandate, which requires employers to offer health insurance plans covering contraception, sterilization and some drugs that can cause early abortions.
The appellate court said on Friday that enforcement of the mandate will be on hold until the nation’s highest court decides whether to hear the case.
Sr. Loraine Marie Maguire, mother provincial of the Little Sisters of the Poor, emphasized that the religious women “dedicate our lives to serving the neediest in society, with love and dignity”. In its 24-page opinion reconsidering the cases in light of Hobby Lobby, the 6th Circuit said the two dioceses and the Sisters of St. Cecilia are exempt from the requirement under HHS rules. “All we ask is to be able to continue our religious vocation free from government intrusion”.
The government says that providing contraception coverage is ultimately free for insurance companies, because birth control results in better health for women and lower pregnancy rates, resulting in lower overall costs for insurers. Several religious organizations have also said that they still object to signing a form that passes the burden of providing the objectionable content to another party.
The Little Sisters then went before the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver to extend that protection, but a panel of the appeals court ruled against them. The sisters responded by appealing to the Supreme Court. The second court ruled against Michigan and Tennessee Catholic Charities agencies, Aquinas College and other church-run institutions, saying that their religious rights are not substantially burdened by a process created by the federal government for opting out of providing contraceptive coverage due to religious objections.
A December 2013 Rasmussen Reports poll shows Americans disagree with forcing companies like Hobby Lobby to obey the mandate.
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The Tenth Circuit issued an order temporarily safeguarding the Little Sisters of the Poor and other ministries from being forced to violate their faith. They have nearly three months before the petition would be due at the Court. The court normally takes around six weeks to follow up on the petitions it gets.
