Federal court sides against Trump admin’s conscience protections for Little Sisters of the Poor
Caroline MolloyThe Little Sisters of the Poor are not exempt from providing contraception to staff, a federal court ruled Aug. 13, blocking conscience protections set in place by the Trump administration.
The Sisters intend to appeal the decision, which is the latest episode in a long saga that began when the Obama administration’s Health and Human Services (HHS) Department mandated the Sisters must provide the drugs even though the Catholic Church opposes the use of contraception unless it is strictly intended to address medical problems.
The Becket Fund, a law firm that focuses on religious freedom, has represented the Sisters in various cases since the religious community first decided to take the HHS mandate to court.
“The Court sided with Pennsylvania and New Jersey in their years-long effort to force the Little Sisters of the Poor to provide contraceptive and abortion coverage in their healthcare plans,” Becket stated Aug. 13. “Today’s ruling keeps that effort alive, and the Little Sisters have vowed to appeal the decision.”
“The Little Sisters of the Poor are an order of Catholic nuns who have cared for the elderly poor for nearly 200 years,” the law firm continued. “They have been in court for over fourteen years, fighting for protection from the contraception mandate which requires them either provide services like the week-after pill in their healthcare plan or pay tens of millions of dollars in fines.”
As Becket recounted and CatholicVote has reported, the religious order has seen a series of victories for its cause, overcoming opponents of religious exemptions who have continuously attempted to squash those successes.
“In 2016, the Little Sisters won protection against the federal government at the Supreme Court, and in 2017, a new federal rule was created which exempted groups like the Little Sisters from the mandate,” Becket explained, noting that more than a dozen state governments sued over the rule.
