A federal appeals court will reconsider whether a religious exemption from the Affordable Care Act’s birth control mandate is sufficient for Catholic groups in Michigan and Tennessee.
On Monday morning, the Supreme Court tossed the case back to the Cincinnati-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which ruled last year that the exemption provides enough cover for the groups to opt out of paying for birth control, which they oppose on religious grounds.
The exemption doesn’t go far enough, according to the plaintiffs, which include the Michigan Catholic Conference and the Catholic Diocese of Nashville.
The groups are excused for religious reasons from paying directly for birth control coverage, which is otherwise required of mid-size and large employers under Obamacare. But to get exempted, some must fill out a form delegating that responsibility to a third party — and they argue that act alone makes them complicit in providing birth control coverage.
Last year, the Supreme Court said for-profit employers can get excused from providing the coverage under a federal religious freedom law. But the justices haven’t ruled on whether the Obama administration’s accommodation for religious groups is sufficient. However, they have granted temporary relief to a number of groups, including Little Sisters of the Poor and the University of Notre Dame.
“The government keeps making the same bad arguments and the Supreme Court keeps rejecting them — every single time. This is because the government can obviously come up with ways to distribute contraceptives without the forced involvement of Catholic ministries,” said Mark Rienzi, counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which filed an amicus brief in the case.
The Sixth Circuit is one of several federal appeals courts to rule on the question, and so far they’ve all ruled in favor of the administration.
