A media-shy group of nuns that operates homes for the elderly has unexpectedly become the leader in a fight against the Obama administration’s birth control mandate.
Little Sisters of the Poor is perhaps the best-recognized nonprofit among a handful of religious groups seeking a full exemption from the requirement to fund birth control coverage for workers. The nuns, along with a few evangelical colleges and other Catholic groups, will present their case to the Supreme Court on March 23.
Founded in 1839, Little Sisters operates 27 homes in the U.S. where it employs about 3,000 workers. Like most Catholic groups, the institute for women opposes artificial contraception, which isn’t allowed under the teachings of the church.
Under Affordable Care Act rules laid out by the administration, religious nonprofits such as Little Sisters don’t have to pay for birth control coverage even though that’s required for other employers. But to get out of the mandate, they must still actively delegate that responsibility to the insurer itself.
It’s that so-called “accommodation” that Little Sisters and the other plaintiffs are protesting, saying that even having to sign a form allowing for birth control coverage makes them complicit in providing it to women.
The Washington Examiner spoke to Little Sisters Communications Director Sister Constance Veit to talk about the oral arguments, when the court will consider whether to exempt them from the mandate or whether the accommodation is sufficient to protect their religious freedom.
Washington Examiner: You’re a charity group in the middle of one of the biggest Supreme Court battles this year. How did Little Sisters make the decision to challenge the birth control mandate in the first place?
Veit: I’m not really totally in the know about how the decision was made because I wasn’t a part of it at that point. Certainly in consultation with our leadership in France. We have three provinces in the U.S., and each has a provincial superior, so it was a concern of our provincial level leadership, and I think they sought advice from the [U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops].
Examiner: Did you originally expect disputing the mandate would get as far as it has in the courts?
Veit: I think originally we thought it would be worked out. The bishops conference held meetings with the administration. We never thought it would come to this. We thought things could be worked out before it ever arrived [in the courts].
Examiner: What does refusing to comply with the mandate mean for you?
Veit: It’s just basically that the magnitude of the fines being imposed is something, humanly speaking, impossible for us to carry. We were not looking to be the standard bearers for anything. We’re just looking to continue our ministry.
Fines would add up to $70 million a year. We have about 3,000 employees across the United States, so [the mandate] applies to their healthcare plans. Mainly healthcare and administrative workers. We have to comply with all the same regulations other providers—it’s mandated to us how many staff we have to have per residence in all the areas of the home. We have everything from registered nurses, nursing assistants are the bulk of our staff and then housekeeping staff, kitchen, laundry workers, administrative workers.
Examiner: Will you be in the courtroom for the oral arguments?
Veit: I think some of us hope to be in the courtroom, it depends on getting tickets.
Examiner: Do you think the court will rule your way?
Veit: Obviously we’ve never been down a road like this before. This is all completely unprecedented for us and we’re just hoping for a successful outcome so we can get back to doing what we really do, which is caring for the elderly.
Examiner: Do you have a plan B if the court rules against you?
Veit: We believe if we’re faithful to God and the teachings of the church, God is not going to let us down. We don’t have any concrete contingency plan because our contingency plan is to keep trusting in him.
Examiner: How are you affording all the legal costs?
Veit: The Becket Fund [for Religious Liberty] does all our work pro bono because they’re supported by people who also have strong convictions. So this has not been a financial burden to us, just a burden of time and anxiety. The reason why we’re taking it to this level is the [Health and Human Services] mandate doesn’t apply to us.
Examiner: A vice president at the abortion rights group NARAL recently said Little Sisters isn’t a religious organization but a social service organization because you employ and serve people who aren’t Catholic. Do you want to respond to that?
Veit: We’re consecrated women in the church. Christ is the center and the reason or everything we do and we care for the elderly because we see Jesus Christ is the core. To say we’re not religious — our whole lives are based on our relationship with Christ.
