It’s easy to get infuriated and disappointed by the state of affairs in Washington. But this week we are happy to bring you a bit of good news out of the Supreme Court.
In a victorious 7-2 decision in Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania, the Court ruled that the Little Sisters are exempt from the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) contraceptive mandate. The Little Sisters are an order of Roman Catholic religious sisters who serve the elderly poor. In the past decade, the Sisters have been dragged through multiple courtrooms fighting for protection against being forced to fund healthcare plans required under the Obama-era contraceptive mandate, which requires healthcare plans to provide women’s “preventative care,” including birth control and abortion-inducing drugs.
As Justice Thomas, author of the majority opinion, said:
“…for the past seven years, they [the Little Sisters of the Poor]—like many other religious objectors who have participated in the litigation and rulemakings leading up to today’s decision— have had to fight for the ability to continue in their noble work without violating their sincerely held religious beliefs…
We hold today that the Departments had the statutory authority to craft that exemption, as well as the contemporaneously issued moral exemption. We further hold that the rules promulgating these exemptions are free from procedural defects.”
This decision is certainly a win for First Amendment and religious liberty. We hope that the Little Sisters are able to continue their work for many more years without the interference of burdensome governmental mandates that force violation of the deeply-held religious beliefs to which they have dedicated their lives.
In another win along these lines, the Court ruled 7-2 in Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru that religious schools cannot be forced to hire teachers that do not follow the school’s faith and religious practices. The Court deemed that the “ministerial exemption” in Civil Rights law, which allows religious institutions to hire and fire ministers as they see fit, extends to teachers working at religious schools. Becket Legal Defense represented Our Lady of Guadalupe School and argued that “that religious groups can only operate freely if they are given full autonomy in choosing the individuals who teach their beliefs and embody their faith.”
Opponents of this decision will claim that teachers coming out as gay, lesbian, or transgender will be wrongly fired or not hired. However, this decision ensures that religious schools are not forced to compromise their beliefs in their hiring and firing practices; therefore ensuring that their teachers are always a reflection of the teaching they desire to bestow on the students.
As Justice Alito said in the majority decision:
“When a school with a religious mission entrusts a teacher with the responsibility of educating and forming students in the faith, judicial intervention into disputes between the school and the teacher threatens the school’s independence in a way that the First Amendment does not allow.”
Eagle Forum is thankful the Supreme Court ruled to protect the First Amendment and we will continue to monitor legislation and rule-making that has the potential to impact our Constitutional rights.
