After oral arguments, the Court asked both the religious non-profit petitioners and the federal government to address “whether contraceptive coverage could be provided to petitioners’ employees, through petitioners’ insurance companies, without any such notice from petitioners”.
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At issue is the form religiously affiliated nonprofits must fill out if they object to providing insurance coverage for contraception under Obamacare – the “accommodation” to the contraception mandate – and the protections provided by RFRA to the nonprofit groups’ religious interests.
The Supreme Court rid itself Monday of a knotty dispute between faith-based groups and the Obama administration over birth control.
“It is also a confirmation of something we’ve been sayng all along, which is that the government does not need religious institutions in their health plan to give out contraceptives”, he said.
UPDATE I: 10:48 AM EDT – In short the Supreme Court sent the case back to the lower court, but in a rare move, suggested an outcome. “The Little Sisters, and eventually all Catholic religious organizations such as Ave Maria School of Law, will not be required to take part in the government’s plan to provide contraception and abortifacients”.
Eight appeals courts nationwide have sided with the administration; four of those were challenged in the case before the Supreme Court.
The court’s action comes without comment from the justices and leaves in place an appellate ruling that said the high court can bar protesters from the 20,000-square-foot, open-air plaza without violating their constitutional rights. This was definitely anticipated as the court continues to deal with the reality of the tragic loss of Justice Scalia.
In 2014, the justices divided 5-4 with Scalia in the majority to allow some “closely held” businesses with religious objections to refuse to pay for contraceptives.
The Supreme Court did not say if the government’s mandate and “accommodation” violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The challengers included Bishop David Zubik, head of the Catholic Diocese in Pittsburgh; the Little Sisters of the Poor, nuns who run more than two dozen nursing homes for impoverished seniors; evangelical and Catholic colleges in Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington, D.C.; and the anti-abortion advocacy group Priests for Life.
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Contraception is among a range of preventive services that must be provided at no extra charge under the health care law. One effective means of birth control, the intrauterine device, can cost up to $1,000. It does, however, require them to write a letter notifying the government that they object to the coverage and who their insurance provider is. And they must allow their insurers or third-party administrators to handle birth control matters.
