The Supreme Court will hear arguments over a case of whether a Catholic religious order will be forced to comply with Obamacare’s abortion mandate.
Under Obamacare, the mandate forces religious groups to pay for birth control and drugs that may be used for abortions, according to Life News.
The Little Sisters of the Poor could face millions in fines if they do not comply with the mandate.
The U.S. Supreme Court had temporarily protected the Little Sisters from the law, but when the group asked for an extension, a panel of appeals court ruled against them.
The Supreme Court will also be hearing another six cases of schools and other organizations that do not want to be forced to comply with the law.
“The federal government doesn’t need the Little Sisters or any other ministry to help it distribute abortion-inducing drugs and other contraceptives. Yet it not only insists on forcing them to participate in the delivery, it argues that their beliefs against participating are wrong and that government officials and judges can tell the Little Sisters what Catholic theology really requires,” said Mark Rienzi, senior counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a group that is representing the Little Sisters of the Poor.
“That’s wrong, and it’s dangerous — especially when those same government officials have disrespectfully compared the Sisters’ beliefs to ‘fighting an invisible dragon’ that can be vanquished with the ‘stroke of the [Sisters’] own pen.’”
Photo courtesy: picserver.org
Publication date: November 9, 2015