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 The court was set to hear a 90-minute oral argument on seven
related cases focusing on whether nonprofit entities that oppose the
requirement for religious reasons can object under a 1993 U.S. law
called the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act to a compromise
measure offered by the Obama administration.
The 2010 Affordable Care Act, dubbed Obamacare, was passed by
Congress over unified Republican opposition. It is considered
Obama's signature legislative achievement. Conservatives have
mounted numerous legal challenges to the law, with the Supreme Court
in 2012 and 2015 issuing high-profile rulings leaving it intact.
Among the groups challenging the requirement is a Colorado-based
order of Roman Catholic nuns called the Little Sisters of the Poor
that runs care homes for the elderly.
The case will be heard by eight justices, with the court one short
following the Feb. 13 death of Antonin Scalia. The court is now
divided 4-4 between liberal and conservative justices without
Scalia.
The Christian groups object to a compromise first offered by the
Obama administration in 2013. It allows groups opposed to providing
insurance covering contraception to comply with the law without
actually paying for the required coverage.
Groups can certify they are opting out of the requirement by signing
a form and submitting to the government. The government then asks
insurers to pick up the tab for the contraception.
The challengers contend the accommodation violates their religious
rights by forcing them to authorize the coverage for their employees
even if they are not paying for it.
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The case represents an uphill battle for the challengers, who lost
all seven cases now before the Supreme Court in lower courts.
Scalia, a conservative Roman Catholic, was considered a reliable
vote for the religious groups. In 2014, he was in the majority when
the court ruled 5-4 that family-owned companies run on religious
principles, including craft retailer Hobby Lobby Stores Inc, could
object to the provision for religious reasons.
If the four conservatives who sided with Scalia in that case remain
unified, the best result the challengers could get would be a 4-4
split. That would leave in place the lower-court rulings favoring
the Obama administration.
Among other challengers are: Bishop David Zubik and the Roman
Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh; the Roman Catholic archdiocese of
Washington, D.C.; Priests for Life; and East Texas Baptist
University.
A ruling is due by the end of June.
(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham)
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