The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld expanded exemptions to the Affordable Care Act’s birth- control mandate for employers with religious or moral objections.
The 7-2 vote, with Justice Clarence Thomas writing the majority opinion and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissenting, came in the case of Pennsylvania vs. Little Sisters of the Poor, a Roman Catholic order that had sued over the act’s requirement that employers provide contraceptives with no co-pay to workers.
The group said the act violated their religious and moral beliefs.
The law allowed for some exemptions for churches and other religious organizations.
But after President Trump took office, the feds in 2017 issued a rule to allow exemptions for more employers, including publicly traded companies.
Under the rule, private employers could get an exemption for a “sincerely held religious belief.”
The Trump administration and the Little Sisters of the Poor had asked the justices to reverse a lower court’s order that blocked the exemptions nationwide.
The White House hailed the high court’s decision.
“Today’s Supreme Court ruling is a big win for religious freedom and freedom of conscience,“ it said in a statement.
“Almost a decade ago, the Obama administration attempted to force employers, including religious nonprofits like the Little Sisters of the Poor, an order of nuns, to provide contraceptive coverage to their employees, in violation of their religious beliefs.
“Twice before in this ongoing saga, the Supreme Court has blocked these overly rigid and misguided efforts and sided with religious freedom. Today, it has once again vindicated the conscience rights of people of faith.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped the ruling.
“The Supreme Court’s decision to enable the Trump administration’s brutal assault on women’s health, financial security and independence is a fundamental misreading of the statute,” she said.
“The Affordable Care Act was explicitly designed to prevent discrimination against women and to ensure that women have access to preventive care, including contraception.”