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 On Tuesday night, Justice Sonia Sotomayor had granted a temporary
injunction preventing the government from enforcing the so-called
"contraception mandate" against the Little Sisters of the Poor and
Christian Brothers Services while litigation continues.
In its filing on Friday, the government said the groups have no
legal basis to file the lawsuit because the insurance plan in
question is a "church plan," which the government has already
acknowledged it cannot force to provide contraception coverage.
Little Sisters of the Poor is a Baltimore-based order of nuns that
runs nursing homes across the country. Christian Brothers Services
administers healthcare plans for Catholic organizations.
Now that the court has received the government's filing, it will
decide whether to extend the injunction while the case continues in
lower courts. There is no deadline for court action, and Sotomayor
can make the decision herself or refer it to the whole court, in
which case all nine justices will decide.
The case coincides with the expansion this year of coverage under
the 2010 Obamacare law, the most sweeping U.S. social legislation in
50 years.
The religious organizations accuse the federal government of forcing
them to support contraception and sterilization in violation of
their religious beliefs or face steep fines.
"PERMISSION SLIP"
The 2010 Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, aims to
dramatically reduce the number of Americans with no health
insurance, estimated by the government at more than 45 million.
Republicans oppose the law, and hope their stance gains them seats
in November's Congressional elections, especially after glitches
with the website used to enroll people in coverage.
The healthcare law requires employers to provide insurance covering
preventive services for women, including contraception and
sterilization. There is 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 organizations
employing people of all faiths.
As a compromise, the administration agreed to an accommodation for
non-profits affiliated with religious entities that was finalized in
July.
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Under the accommodation, eligible non-profits must provide a "self
certification", described by one lower court judge as a "permission
slip" authorizing insurance companies to provide the coverage.
Challengers say that step alone violates their religious rights,
regardless of whether employees ultimately receive contraception
coverage.
They also point to court papers in which the government has said it
is still looking at ways to enforce the contraception mandate
against church plan administrators.
In a separate case in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., the
government said in a November filing that officials "continue to
consider potential options to fully and appropriately extend the
consumer protections provided by the preventive services coverage
regulations to self-insured church plans."
A federal judge in Colorado, William Martinez, denied the
plaintiffs' request for an injunction on Dec.. 27. The
Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals followed suit on Dec
31, prompting the last minute plea to the Supreme Court.
Throughout the country, Catholic groups are asking the courts to
exempt them temporarily from the mandate while litigation continues.
Most courts have granted the requests. The mandate, which was due to
take effect for the organizations on Wednesday, is already in place
for many women who have private health insurance.
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.
(Editing by Howard Goller, Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio)
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