They have challenged the federal government’s authority under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, to mandate that religious employers with philosophical objections to artificial contraception be forced to pay for employees’ insurance policies that include coverage for these birth control methods.
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Religious groups responded with another complaint: requiring employers of religious-affiliated institutions to sign health insurance before approval of application is already endorsing contraception. As per the health law, the employers are obliged to provide birth control pills to women in need in accordance to employee health plans.
Given the gravity of the dispute and the substantial clarification and refinement in the positions of the parties, the parties on remand should be afforded an opportunity to arrive at an approach going forward that accommodates petitioners’ religious exercise while at the same time ensuring that women covered by petitioners’ health plans “receive full and equal health coverage, including contraceptive coverage.”
Although the mandate made exceptions for houses of worship, the government was still issuing fines to faith-based organizations such as schools, hospitals, and charities who were refusing to cover contraception because doing so would conflict with their religious views. Rather than rule on the hot button issue, the Court (which remember is now only made up of eight judges) chose to hand the case back to lower appeals courts.
“But granting the exemption that these nonprofits seek would force employees to bear the costs of their bosses’ religious beliefs, even though they don’t share them”. Sending the case back to the lower courts buys time.
The plaintiffs (also referred to as petitioners) in the lawsuits are religious organizations, including the Catholic dioceses of Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., East Texas Baptist University, Grinnell College, a Reformed Presbyterian college in Pennsylvania, and the “The Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged in Denver, Colorado”. But the New Orleans-based US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals – considered the most conservative appellate court in the country – later reversed that decision.
“Instead of punting in this ongoing battle against contraceptive coverage, the Supreme Court should have recognized that eight out of nine courts of appeals got the case right”, Sepper said.
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The U.S. Supreme Court is shown March 29, 2016 in Washington, DC following the first 4-4 tie in a case before the court.
