Supreme Court accepts challenge to health law's contraceptive mandate
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear another challenge to the Affordable Care Act, this time to decide whether religiously affiliated organizations such as universities, hospitals and charities should be free from playing any role in providing employees with contraceptive coverage.
The case pits questions of religious liberty against a woman's right to equal health care access, and it is the fourth time in five years the court will consider some aspect of what has come to be known as Obamacare.
The Obama administration says it has provided the organizations with an easy way to opt out of the legal requirement that employers include contraceptives as part of health insurance coverage. Employers who object must file their religious objections and let insurance companies and the government take over from there.
But the groups say even that step would implicate them in what they sincerely believe to be a sin, adding that they face ruinous fines if they refuse to comply. They want to be included under the blanket exclusion from providing the coverage that the government has already extended to churches and solely religious groups.
The government counters that students and employees of universities and hospitals are less likely to adhere to the organizations' religious views about contraceptives and that they should not be denied the health care benefits that others covered by the law receive.