In the United States, several institutions and Christian educational institutions“have submitted a request to the Supreme Court within the scope of the hearing organised by the latter in March on the Obamacare ‘Contraceptive Mandate[1]”. This focuses on the case of the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor who must pay $70 million to the government “if it continues to refuse to reimburse its lay employees for contraceptive, abortive and sterilising medication”.
The request states that, “the government already has other sufficient means to offer contraception to anyone it wants. In fact, the government has invested billions of dollars in explanations aimed exclusively at facilitating the procurement of health insurance when an employer does not offer it”. Legal Counsel Mark Rienzi confirms that“it is ridiculous that, nowadays, the federal government does not know how to distribute contraceptives without involving religious institutions and their care system”.
The Mother Provincial of the Congregation declared, “We cannot possibly choose between the care we deliver and our faith and we shouldn’t have to. All we ask is to maintain our rights”.
[1] In 201, Obamacare stipulated that an employer should provide its employees with health insurance cover including abortion and contraception.
Aleteia (19/01/2016)