Supreme Court: Government Can Exempt Catholic Nuns—and Other Religious, Moral Objectors—from Contraception Mandate – By Terence P. Jeffrey (CNS News) / July 8 2020
(CNSNews.com) – The Supreme Court ruled today that, under the terms to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), the administration does have the power to issue regulations allowing employers to opt out of providing their employees with health insurance that pays for all FDA-approved contraceptive methods for either religious or moral reasons.
The two cases that brought this issue before the court were Little Sisters of the Poor vs. Pennsylvania and Donald J. Trump vs. Pennsylvania.
The ACA—AKA Obamacare—did not specifically require employers to provide contraceptive coverage. That coverage was required by a regulation issued by the Obama administration after Obamacare was enacted.
“Though contraceptive coverage is not required by (or even mentioned in) the ACA provision at issue, the government mandated such coverage by promulgating interim final rules (IFRs) shortly after the ACA’s passage,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the opinion of the court.
“The ACA’s contraceptive mandate—a product of agency regulation—has existed for approximately nine years,” he said. “Litigation surrounding that requirement has lasted nearly as long.”
Continue to article: https://www.cnsnews.com/article/washington/terence-p-jeffrey/supreme-court-government-can-exempt-catholic-nuns-and-other
