Religious liberty issues color Supreme Court consideration of health law's contraception coverage mandate

Dec 3 2013

Other challenges to the law continue to work their way through courtrooms across the country.

Politico: Contraceptive Cases Raise Religious Liberty Issues
The Supreme Court in early spring will hear two legal challenges to Obamacare's contraception coverage requirement, a case that addresses a complex question that has never come squarely before the court: Can a for-profit company engaged in commercial activities declare religious beliefs? Under the women's preventive health benefit in the Affordable Care Act most employers must provide all Food and Drug Administration-approved forms of contraception with no co-pays. There are exemptions for religious organizations and ways for religious-affiliated institutions to try to work around the requirement. But owners of nonreligious businesses who oppose some or all contraceptives say the government shouldn't be able to require them to break with their religious beliefs (Haberkorn, 12/2).

USA Today: Long-Shot Legal Challenges To Health Care Law Abound
President Obama's signature health care law could get nicked by the Supreme Court next year when the justices take up the mandate that most businesses provide free coverage for contraception. But that's not the only legal hurdle it faces. In courtrooms across the country, Republican state attorneys general and conservative groups are challenging the way the law was passed, the way it was worded and the bureaucracy it created (Wolf, 11/29)..