WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court said an order of Catholic nuns, for now, doesn’t have to fill out a government form that is part of the Obama administration’s effort to ensure that employees have contraceptive coverage.
The justices said Friday that the Little Sisters of the Poor and potentially other religious groups with objections to birth control can instead inform federal officials in writing of their views.
The one-page order, which came without published dissent after more than three weeks of deliberations, represents a compromise on an issue that might have divided the justices along ideological lines. The order will apply while the legal dispute plays out in the lower courts.
The justices said their order “should not be construed as an expression of the court’s views on the merits.”
The nuns argued the form might trigger contraceptive coverage for their employees, although that can’t happen under current regulations.
Friday’s action modifies a temporary order issued Dec. 31 by Justice Sonia Sotomayor to allow time for briefing and court review. Sotomayor then referred the matter to the full court for resolution.
Little Sisters, which runs 30 nursing homes around the country and has hundreds of lay employees, sought Supreme Court intervention after a Denver-based federal appeals court refused to shield the group. That followed a federal trial judge’s ruling that the group’s rights weren’t violated.
The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires employers to include birth control in the insurance coverage they provide workers. Although the law exempts houses of worship from the contraception requirement, the rules governing other religious groups, including the Little Sisters, are more complicated.
The court later this year will consider another religious-rights battle over the Affordable Care Act requirement that employers cover birth control.
The justices will hear arguments March 25 from family-run businesses that say they shouldn’t have to provide some types of contraceptive coverage to their employees.
The nuns were seeking an exemption for themselves as well as almost 500 other Catholic groups whose health-care plans are run by the Christian Brothers Employee Benefit Trust.
The case focuses on Health and Human Services Department regulations aimed at accommodating some religious objections to the contraceptive mandate. Under the rules, the nuns don’t have to provide the contraceptive coverage themselves and instead can submit a “self-certification” form attesting to their objections.
The form is designed to shift the responsibility for providing contraceptive coverage to the objecting group’s insurer, which could then seek government reimbursement.
The group says even submitting the self-certification form would make it complicit in providing contraceptives, violating its rights under the Constitution and a federal religious-freedom law.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 01/25/2014