Federal court blocks Trump administration's exceptions to birth control rule in five states

A federal appeals court on Thursday blocked the Trump administration’s moral and religious exceptions to the Obamacare birth control mandate from going into effect in five states.

The ruling, from a split three-judge panel, upholds a preliminary injunction by the district court. The case was appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit by the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Catholic organization that cares for people in nursing homes, and by March for Life, an anti-abortion advocacy group.