Americans are entitled to their beliefs. But that’s not what some activists on the bench think.
And now a federal court threw out the First Amendment and set up a Supreme Court showdown.
A federal appeals court has ruled that the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Catholic religious order serving the elderly poor, must once again include contraception coverage in their employee health plans, overturning conscience protections established under the Trump administration. The ruling reignites one of the most visible and prolonged religious liberty battles of the past decade.
The Little Sisters have fought the federal contraception mandate since 2011, when the Obama administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) first required nearly all employers to provide birth control coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The mandate included drugs and devices the Catholic Church considers morally objectionable, except when used strictly for medical treatment unrelated to contraception.
LONG LEGAL HISTORY
The case quickly became a flashpoint in the national debate over the limits of religious freedom and the scope of government mandates. With legal representation from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the Sisters challenged the mandate in multiple courts, arguing it forced them to violate their beliefs or face ruinous financial penalties.
“The Court sided with Pennsylvania and New Jersey in their years-long effort to force the Little Sisters of the Poor to provide contraceptive and abortion coverage in their healthcare plans,” Becket stated Aug. 13. “Today’s ruling keeps that effort alive, and the Little Sisters have vowed to appeal the decision.”
Becket stressed the Sisters’ charitable mission: “The Little Sisters of the Poor are an order of Catholic nuns who have cared for the elderly poor for nearly 200 years. They have been in court for over fourteen years, fighting for protection from the contraception mandate which requires them either provide services like the week-after pill in their healthcare plan or pay tens of millions of dollars in fines.”
PREVIOUS SUPREME COURT VICTORIES
The order’s legal journey has included multiple trips to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2016, the justices unanimously sent the case back to lower courts, effectively shielding the Sisters from the mandate at that time.
The following year, the Trump administration issued new federal rules granting religious and moral exemptions to groups like the Little Sisters.
That policy quickly faced challenges from several Democratic-led states, with Pennsylvania and New Jersey leading the charge. In 2020, the Supreme Court upheld the Trump-era exemptions, granting the Sisters a significant—though temporary—victory.
“But,” Becket continued, “Pennsylvania and New Jersey have continued to fight in court to strip the Little Sisters of that protection.”
ONGOING NATIONAL DEBATE
Supporters of the contraception mandate argue it is a matter of health care equity, ensuring women have access to comprehensive reproductive services regardless of their employer’s beliefs.
Religious liberty advocates counter that forcing faith-based organizations to cover such services amounts to government overreach and an erosion of First Amendment protections.
Becket’s latest statement minced no words about the implications: the court “blessed an out-of-control effort by Pennsylvania and New Jersey to attack the Little Sisters and religious liberty.”
The nuns plan to appeal the Aug. 13 decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, ensuring that this high-profile case—symbolizing a broader national conflict over the balance between religious conscience and state mandates—will continue into yet another round.
