U.S. Supreme Court justices said on Nov. 6 they will hear seven pending appeals in lawsuits brought by several Catholic and other faith-based entities against the Obama administration’s contraceptive mandate. Among the plaintiffs are the Little Sisters of the Poor, the Archdiocese of Washington, Priests for Life, Southern Nazarene University, Texas Baptist University and several Catholic institutions in Pennsylvania. Under the federal Affordable Care Act, most employers, including religious ones, are required to cover employees’ artificial birth control, sterilization and abortifacients, even if employers are morally opposed to such coverage. In all the cases to be argued before the high court in March, appellate courts in various jurisdictions sided with the Obama administration. The rulings said the religious entities’ freedom of religion was not burdened by having to comply with the mandate as they have argued, because the federal government has in place an accommodation for a third party to provide the contested coverage. But the religious groups object to that notification, saying they still would be complicit in supporting practices they oppose.
Mandate Challenge
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
In his message for the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly, Pope Leo XIV encouraged parishes to put more effort into caring for the elderly.
Amid concern over immigration enforcement raids in the area, the bishop of San Bernardino, California, on July 8 issued a dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass for the faithful if they fear for their well-being.
Father Joshua Whitfield of Dallas, Texas spoke to OSV News after the devastating flash flooding in Texas on July 4.
Although I had set out to answer the question, “Who is Pope Leo XIV?” the question I had succeeded in answering was “Who is Robert Prevost?”