{"id":223112,"date":"2020-05-06T18:30:46","date_gmt":"2020-05-06T23:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=223112"},"modified":"2020-05-07T13:42:33","modified_gmt":"2020-05-07T18:42:33","slug":"supreme-court-oral-arguments-little-sisters-poor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/supreme-court-oral-arguments-little-sisters-poor\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Little Sisters of the Poor religious freedom case"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Today, the Little Sisters of the Poor<\/a>, a religious order of Catholic sisters which provides compassionate residential care to elderly men and women across the country,\u00a0headed to the Supreme Court<\/a>\u00a0for oral arguments<\/a> heard by telephone, defending themselves against a mandate requiring them to pay for contraceptives.<\/p>\n

In 2011, President Obama’s Affordable Care Act required all employers to provide contraceptive and potentially abortifacient<\/a> drugs as part of their insurance plans, or pay millions of dollars as a financial penalty. A narrow exemption was provided for churches, but this exemption excluded “faith-based ministries, hospitals, universities, and social service agencies,” according to a Wall Street Journal<\/a>\u00a0op-ed written by Helen Alvar\u00e9. The Sisters\u00a0took their case requesting a religious exemption<\/a> all the way to the Supreme Court. In 2016, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Little Sisters, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also subsequently issued a new rule exempting all religious nonprofits from the contraceptive mandate.<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Five years later, four Christian universities win against contraceptive mandate<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

However, several states, including Pennsylvania and California, once again sued to force the Sisters to provide contraceptive coverage in their insurance plans against their Catholic beliefs.<\/p>\n

The Sisters are represented by the Becket Fund, a “non-profit, nonpartisan law firm that protects the free expression of all religious traditions – from (A)nglicans to (Z)oroastrians,” according to the group’s\u00a0Twitter page<\/a>. Legislators, social commentators, and leaders from nonprofits across the country chimed in on Twitter, encouraging the Supreme Court justices to #letthemserve, saying “Help a sister out!” and “Their stand for religious freedom is a stand for all of us.”<\/p>\n

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A HUGE THANK YOU to all our wonderful guests from around the country who joined us!<\/p>\n

Oral argument has concluded at #SCOTUS<\/a>, but you can still show your support for the Little Sisters. Please spread the word to #LetThemServe<\/a>!#ProtectOurCare<\/a> #ReligiousFreedom<\/a> for all! pic.twitter.com\/fwTWdwFiHJ<\/a><\/p>\n

— BECKET (@BECKETlaw) May 6, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n