Responding to the U.S. Supreme Court
order blocking the implementation of President Obama's controversial Affordable Care Act (i.e., Obamacare) for a group of Catholic nuns,
the Department of Justice (DoJ) has claimed (once again) that the
nuns are exempt from providing contraceptive coverage. In its court filing, the DoJ restated its argument that the Little Sisters of the Poor (a religious order of nuns who take care
of the needy and dying elderly) just needs to certify that they don't want to
provide contraceptive coverage and thereby leave the decision to a third-party
administrator.
“Applicants have no legal basis to
challenge the self-certification requirement or to complain that it involves them
in the process of providing contraceptive coverage,” the government's filing
claimed. Lawyers for the Catholic group (once
again) contested the administration's claim … filing a 17-page brief saying
Justice Sonia Sotomayor's order saved the nuns from having to choose between
violating their faith and facing penalties. Self-certification amounts to “deputizing a
third party to sin on their behalf,” they argued.
“The government demands that the Little Sisters of the Poor sign a
permission slip for abortion drugs and contraceptives, or pay millions in fines,”
said Mark Rienzi, senior counsel for the Becket
Fund for Religious Liberty, and lead counsel for the nuns. “The Sisters
believe that doing that violates their faith, and that they shouldn't be forced
to divert funds from the poor elderly and dying people they've devoted their
lives to serve.”
Justice Sotomayor, who issued a stay
on the requirement at the request of the Colorado-based Catholic group, gave the
administration some time to respond to the Supreme Court. The high court order came just hours before
the administration began forcing some religious-affiliated groups to provide
health insurance covering birth control and abortion-inducing drugs or face
heavy fines on January 1, 2014.
Along with the Little Sisters of the Poor, the order also affects religious health
benefit providers, Christian Brothers
Services and Christian Brothers
Employee Benefits Trust, according to the Becket Fund.
Florida-based Liberty Counsel also blasted the administration. “The Little
Sisters of the Poor should be spending its time and resources helping the
poor, not having to fight the Obama Administration over a clear-cut violation
of its right to free exercise of religion,” said the group – an international
non-profit litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to
advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family. President Obama has never told the truth
about Obamacare in general or the abortion mandate in particular, the group
added. “Little Sisters of the Poor cannot simply sign a form to alleviate
the violation of its religious conviction. Signing a form noting its objection is a shell
game. While the Little Sisters of the Poor may not have to directly pay for
abortion, the religious group still has to indirectly pay for abortion through
its insurance administrator.”
Becket Fund's Rienzi noted that
the federal government has started the New Year of 2014 the same way that it ended
the old one: “trying to bully nuns into violating their religious beliefs.” The lawyer said the administration's argument
was contradictory. “The government now
asks the Supreme Court to believe that the very thing it is forcing the nuns to
do – signing the permission slip – is a meaningless act,” he said. “But why on earth would the government be
fighting the Little Sisters all the
way to the Supreme Court if it did not think its own form had any effect? The government's brief offers no explanation
for its surprising insistence on making the Little
Sisters sign a form the government now says is meaningless.” Rienzi said, the government's brief seeks to “keep
the Court out of the issue, which would leave hundreds of religious
organizations subject to massive fines for following their religion.”
There are currently 91 lawsuits
challenging the contraception mandate.
This is clearly a constitutional contest. The 1st amendment right to religious freedom
without government interference must be upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court … not
to be judged by politicians who have an agenda to have government controlling
more and more of our lives and lifestyle.
Rev.
Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain
(Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor,
Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel
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