The Supreme Court granted a number of religious groups clearance to not provide birth control in employee healthcare packages on Wednesday.
Judge Sonia Sotomayor ruled that a handful of Catholic organizations, including Little Sisters of the Poor, a Colorado-based religious non-profit, need not observe the requirement under the Affordable Care Act, just one day after the new healthcare plan was put into action on the first of the year.
The provision, which has drawn much ire from religious and conservatives communities, calls for company owners to cover such medications and procedures as birth control pills, Plan B pills and tubal ligation with no co-payment, according to the Associated Press.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote a letter to President Obama on Tuesday in protest of some groups being pardoned from various aspects of Affordable Care, except those who have spoken out against the contraceptive plan.
By early Thursday, some of the leaders' requests were answered: Judge Sotomayor set the temporary injunction in place, staving off the fears of over 200 religious organizations looking to sidestep the mandate. According to AP, the faith-based groups all employ Christian Brothers Employee Benefit Trust, a Catholic insurance company that follows principles of the church.
But the ruling only applies to the groups that took their issues to court - many Catholic dioceses and other members of various religions institutions who disagree with the mandate didn't shuttle their objections to the legal level, and must now either provide coverage or receive fines.
Senior counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and lead counsel representing the nuns of the Little Sisters Mark L. Rienzi told AP that Sotomayor helped the group with what could have been a tough choice, adding that they would have been committing a sin if they agreed to provide coverage for contraceptives.
"At the end of the day, they just can't be involved in certain things, and one of them is signing forms authorizing permission slips for these kinds of drugs," Rienzi concluded.
The nuns released a statement on Wednesday, ahead of Judge Sotomayor's decision.
"We hope and pray that we will receive a favorable outcome in order to continue to serve the elderly of all faiths with the same community support and religious freedom that we have always appreciated," the statement obtained by AP read.
