Wheaton College watching next Supreme Court health care ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court scheduled a new showdown over Obamacare and religious rights, agreeing to hear contentions by faith-based groups that they shouldn't have to be involved in what they consider to be immoral insurance coverage for contraceptives.
It's a case that will be watched closely by leaders of Wheaton College, which has a similar case in lower courts and will be affected by the Supreme Court's ruling, their attorney said.
The case, which centers on the Obama administration's push to make birth control a standard part of health insurance, will determine the extent to which government officials must allow exceptions for people who say their religious principles prevent them from following the law. Critics say the administration hasn't adequately accommodated religious employers that equate some forms of contraception with murder.
"Many religious ministries are being forced to choose between violating their sincere religious beliefs or violating federal law," argued Little Sisters of the Poor, an order of Catholic nuns whose appeal was one of seven similar petitions the court agreed on Friday to hear.
Attorney Mark Rienzi says Wheaton College is asking for the same outcomes as the nuns but likely won't have to file in the Supreme Court case.
The case has the potential to affect thousands of other universities, hospitals, religious orders and other nonprofits. Hundreds of those groups have sued over the issue, citing a federal religious-freedom law.
The court will hear arguments in late March and rule by the end of June. The dispute marks the fourth Supreme Court clash over the Affordable Care Act since its passage in 2010.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that closely held companies can refuse on religious grounds to offer birth-control coverage to their workers. The newest case involves religious nonprofits, rather than for-profit companies, and centers on the adequacy of the Obama administration's system for letting those groups avoid having to directly provide coverage.
The controversy stems from the Obamacare requirement that contraceptive coverage be included in health plans for employees and students.
The administration gives objecting nonprofits two options: They can shift responsibility onto their insurer by providing it with a "self-certification" form, or they can notify the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services of their objection and provide contact information for their insurer. Either way, the federal government reimburses the insurer for the cost of the coverage.
"Taking either step relieves the employer of any obligation to provide, arrange or pay for the coverage to which it objects," U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, the administration's top courtroom lawyer, argued in court papers.
The administration says the rights of religious groups aren't affected just because the government requires the insurer or plan administrator to provide the coverage.
Religious groups say they shouldn't have to play any role in the administration's birth-control program.
Among the others pressing appeals are Priests for Life, an anti-abortion advocacy group; Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Penn.; Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh; East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, Texas; and Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, Okla.
• Daily Herald Political Editor Mike Riopell contributed to this story.