Little Sisters of the Poor is a Denver-based catholic nun order.
On Tuesday, a federal appeals court ruled against the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Denver-based Catholic nun order, requiring that the Little Sisters adhere to the Affordable Care Act and allow their employees to have access to contraception coverage.vLittle Sisters of the Poor runs about 30 nursing homes around the country.
While the Affordable Care Act requires employers to cover the entire range of contraception at no cost to the employees, the federal government adopted a regulation on August 27 that excuses religious employers and religious non-profits from covering contraceptives that contradict their beliefs, as long as they file for exemption, which will then prompt third-party insurers to provide the contraceptives for employees.
The Little Sisters of the Poor sued the administration on the basis that filling out a form for exemption still makes them active participants in providing birth control that crosses their moral and religious boundaries.
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Little Sisters must comply with the contraceptive coverage, sign the waiver to be exempted, or pay IRS penalties. The court maintained that requiring the nuns to sign a waiver is not burdensome to the nuns’ religious freedom.
The court wrote, "Although we recognize and respect the sincerity of plaintiffs' beliefs and arguments, we conclude the accommodation scheme relieves plaintiffs of their obligations under the mandate and does not substantially burden their religious exercise under RFRA (The Religious Freedom Restoration Act) or infringe upon their First Amendment rights.
Last year, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby, a closely held, family-operated chain craft store, that asserted providing contraception coverage for its workers violated its religious beliefs. The Supreme court ruled that companies of religious families cannot be required to pay for contraception coverage for its employees.
Mark Rienzi of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the legal group representing the nuns that also represented Hobby Lobby, says that the legal group and the nuns will soon review the court’s decision and discuss whether to appeal the case with the Supreme Court.
