In a decision that “pleased” the White House, the Supreme Court ordered Zubik v. Burwell, the Obamacare contraceptive mandate case brought by the Little Sisters of the Poor and other non-profits, back to the lower courts so that the government and plaintiffs could work out a compromise.
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But the groups claimed that the opt-out accommodation made them complicit in providing access to birth control and abortion, which violates their religious views.
“The practical effect is right now, that women will still continue to be able to get contraception if they are getting health insurance”, he said during an interview with BuzzFeed. But the groups, which include not-for-profit colleges and charities, won’t face fines for not adhering to administration procedures for objecting to birth control benefits.
“Little Sisters of the Poor and many other religious, nonprofit organizations can not and will not participate in killing innocent children”, said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel.
The court’s action avoids the the possibility of a 4-to-4 tie among the eight now serving justices, which would have left the lower court rulings to stand rather than requiring further action.
With that understanding, he said, the court has no need to rule on the legal issues raised in the combined cases, known as Zubik vs. Burwell.
The Supreme Court failed to resolve a knotty dispute between faith-based groups and the Obama administration over birth control on Monday, the latest indication of the shorthanded court’s struggle to find a majority for important cases taken up before Justice Antonin Scalia’s death.
The court couldn’t reach a decision and instead asked the lower courts to try to reach some kind of middle ground aka settlement.
Contraception coverage must remain intact while litigation moves forward, the court said.
“Requiring standalone contraceptive-only coverage would leave in limbo all of the women now guaranteed seamless preventive-care coverage under the Affordable Care Act”, Sotomayor said.
The court’s unanimous action represented at least a short-term victory for the nonprofit employers, primarily Roman Catholic organizations, because it tossed out rulings in seven different cases that had endorsed the contraception mandate.
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“They want the parties to agree to a situation where religious non-profits don’t have to tell the government anything or give them a piece of paper and the government will simply compel their insurers about their involvement to provide contraceptives to their employees”, says Bursch.
