Good Guys Win a Skirmish in Religious Freedom Fight

The Little Sisters of the Poor is an order of nuns dedicated to providing end of life care to the poor and elderly and they are a target of the Obama Administration on the abortion issue. The Regime says that although they don't meet Obamacare's definition of a "religious employer" they still don't have to provide such coverage directly - they just have to sign an application requesting a waiver and directing their insurer to pay up if the government so decrees in the future. This is a trick that would fool only a lawyer and the nuns said "Not so fast!" and sued the Feds over the issue. 

townhall.com/tipsheet/kevinglass/2014/01/24/supreme-court-continues-injunction-against-contraception-mandate-n1784360


Yesterday the full Supreme Court issued an injunction against the Feds prohibiting enforcement of the rules against the nuns pending consideration of the case on the merits by the Court. This does not necessarily mean that the Order will win on the merits but their are several important items to note. 

The original stay was issued by Justice Sotomayor and the full Court has now backed it up. Secondly, the Court said very specifically that the Order did not have to file the formal application or sign the directive to its carrier. Finally, a stay is not issued unless there is a good chance that the appellant will win on appeal and a substantial right will be irreparably damaged. 

Whether this is the case that the Court will actually select to make a definitive ruling on this issue is uncertain, but the Court did affirm the protection of the First Amendment to this worthy order of nuns and backed off an Administration that is totally unconcerned with niceties like religious freedom under the First Amendment that interfere with its agenda.