Little Sisters of the Poor Return to Court to Fight Abortion Mandate

Attorneys for the Little Sisters of the Poor will appear before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit tomorrow to ask the court to block a nationwide ruling that rejected the Catholic nuns’ protection from the federal government’s abortion mandate.

The Little Sisters have spent more than a decade defeating government efforts to force them to provide abortifacient contraceptives in their healthcare plan or face tens of millions of dollars in fines.

That winning streak features three Supreme Court victories, including a 2020 ruling in Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania upholding the federal conscience rule that protects the Sisters from the mandate.

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Pennsylvania and New Jersey are still fighting to strip the Little Sisters of that hard-won protection.

Last year, a federal district court sided with the states, teeing up the Little Sisters’ latest chance to beat the government in court.

Becket attorneys, representing the religious order, will argue that the states have no business trying to take away the religious rights the nuns secured at the Supreme Court — twice.

“The fourteen-year legal crusade against the Little Sisters has been needless, grotesque, and un-American,” said Mark Rienzi, president of Becket. “The States have no business trying to take away the Little Sisters’ federal civil rights. The Third Circuit should toss the States’ lawsuit into the dustbin of history and uphold the protection the Little Sisters already won at the Supreme Court … twice.”

The Little Sisters of the Poor, a religious order founded nearly 200 years ago, operate homes across the country where they care for the elderly poor and dying, welcoming them “as we would welcome Christ Himself.”

“For nearly 200 years, our order has welcomed the elderly poor and dying into our homes as we would welcome Christ Himself,” said Mother Loraine Marie Maguire, mother provincial. “It is painful that we have spent more than a decade defending that mission in court. We simply want to continue our work without being forced to violate our faith, and we pray Pennsylvania and New Jersey will end this needless harassment.”

The case stems from the Affordable Care Act’s mandate requiring most employers to cover all FDA-approved contraceptives, sterilizations, and related services — including some drugs and devices that can cause abortion.

The Trump administration later issued rules providing broad religious and moral exemptions for employers with sincere objections. The Supreme Court upheld those protections in 2020.

Yet Pennsylvania and New Jersey continued their challenge, leading to the 2025 district court decision that the Little Sisters are now appealing.

The nuns and their attorneys say they remain committed to defending their faith and their mission of serving the most vulnerable without being compelled to participate in what they believe is the taking of innocent human life.