On August 13, the Little Sisters of the Poor faced yet another court ruling challenging their faith-based conscience objections to the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate.
The legal battle began more than a decade ago in 2013. Since then, the Little Sisters of the Poor have successfully defended their right to work without violating their faith on two separate occasions before the United States Supreme Court. Now it looks like the Sisters will be headed to the Supreme Court for a third time.
As reported by the Daily Citizen, the Little Sisters of the Poor are an “international congregation of nuns serving the elderly poor in the name of Jesus across 30 countries” for 186 years.
Background
Under the original contraceptive mandate in the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), churches were exempted from providing abortion or contraceptives from health insurance plans, but religious non-profits, including Little Sisters of the Poor, were not.
In 2013, Becket Fund, a religious liberty public interest law firm, filed suit on behalf of the Sisters and, in 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Little Sisters should not be forced to violate their consciences.
In 2018, the Trump Administration’s Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) issued a comprehensive exemption for all religious ministries. Shortly thereafter, Pennsylvania and New Jersey sued claiming HHS didn’t have the authority to provide an exemption. The Little Sisters joined the lawsuit to protect their interests and once again the Supreme Court ruled in their favor. It said the government could give the Sisters (and other religious non-profits) an exemption so they wouldn’t have to provide, pay, or be complicit in the provision of contraception or abortion-inducing drugs.
Now a lower court has thrown out the exemption saying the government didn’t explain it well enough.
Latest Court Ruling
In the latest ruling a federal judge in Pennsylvania struck down the religious exemption to the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) contraceptive mandate claiming that it was “arbitrary and capricious” under the Administrative Procedure Act.
The court did not question the sincerity of the Little Sister’s beliefs. Instead, it claimed the government failed to act with “reasoned decision making.”
The court found that the federal government failed to fully consider all the facts, explain the reason for the exemption, address the major criticisms, and demonstrate why it needed to be a broad exemption.
Reactions
In a press release from Becket, Mark Rienzi, president of Becket and lead attorney for the Little Sisters, lamented the court’s decision and affirmed their firm’s commitment to defend the religious freedom of the Little Sisters all the way to the Supreme Court again if they must.
“It is absurd to think the Little Sisters might need yet another trip to the Supreme Court to end what has now been more than a dozen years of litigation over the same issue. We will fight as far as we need to fight to protect the Little Sisters’ right to care for the elderly in peace.”
Mother Loraine Marie Maguire of the Little Sisters of the Poor said this about the recent ruling, “As Little Sisters of the Poor, we dedicate our lives to caring for the elderly poor until God calls them home. We will continue to fight for the right to carry out our mission without violating our faith, and we pray Pennsylvania and New Jersey will end this needless harassment.”
Becket announced the Little Sisters will appeal the decision to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in the coming weeks.
Impact
The case is important to people of faith because conscience protections in the law exist to respect the rights of individuals with religious convictions, so they aren’t forced to act in a way that they believe is morally wrong.
If the ruling against the Little Sisters stands, it could weaken protections for other faith-based businesses and non-profits. It could also set a precedent that the government can force individuals with sincere religious objections to violate their consciences if the federal agency doesn’t explain an exemption in the right way.
If the courts defend the Little Sisters right to broad conscience protections in federal law, the religious freedom of individuals, businesses, and non-profits organizations could be significantly strengthened.
The Daily Citizen will continue to follow this developing case.
Related Articles and Resources:
Department of Justice Joins Little Sisters in Asking Supreme Court to Protect Religious Conscience
Forcing Religious Employers to Fund Abortion is Wrong, Groups Tell Supreme Court
Little Sisters of the Poor Back at the Supreme Court; Their Religious Freedom Struggle Continues
