Obamacare: Catholic Groups Get Temporary Reprieve on Contraception

By Reuters

01 January 13

Organisations providing insurance have objected to being forced to fund services in violation of their stated beliefs

he US supreme court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Tuesday night granted Roman Catholic-affiliated groups a temporary exemption from a part of the Obamacare healthcare law that requires employers to provide insurance policies covering contraception.

She issued an order that stops the US government enforcing the so-called contraception mandate against Baltimore-based Little Sisters of the Poor and Illinois-based Christian Brothers Services, plus related entities.

A lawyer for other Catholic groups that had asked the supreme court to act in three other cases on Tuesday said lower courts had issued temporary injunctions similar to Sotomayor's, meaning the high court had no need to act.

Roman Catholic church-affiliated organisations asked the US supreme court to block implementation of a part of the Obamacare healthcare law that requires employers to provide insurance policies that cover contraception.

Catholic University of America and non-profit organisations in Michigan and Tennessee were among those filing three separate applications asking the court to temporarily exempt them from the so-called contraception mandate while litigation continues. The mandate, which comes into effect on 1 January, is already in place for many women who have private health insurance.

The organisations accuse the federal government of forcing them to support contraception and sterilisation in violation of their religious beliefs or face steep fines.

The 2010 Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, requires employers to provide health insurance policies that cover preventive services for women, including contraception and sterilisation.

The act makes an exception for religious institutions such as houses of worship that mainly serve and employ members of their own faith, but not schools, hospitals and charitable organisations that employ people of all faiths.

As a compromise, the administration agreed to an accommodation for non-profit organisations affiliated with religious entities that was finalised in July.

Under the accommodation, eligible non-profits have to provide a "self certification" - described by one lower court judge as a "permission slip" - that authorises the insurance companies to provide the coverage. The challengers say that step alone is enough to violate their religious rights.

In separate cases, the supreme court already has agreed to hear oral arguments on whether for-profit corporations have the basis to object to the contraception mandate on religious grounds. The court is due to hear the arguments in March and decide the two consolidated cases by the end of June.