Little Sisters of the Poor again turn to Supreme Court for relief from Obamacare mandate

Brett T. | 10:46 PM on October 17, 2015

That’s very nice for the vice president; maybe he could have a word with his boss about religious liberty after the award ceremony.

During his historic visit to the United States, Pope Francis made a surprise visit to the Little Sisters of the Poor. A Vatican spokesperson later confirmed that the visit was a “sign of support for” the Sisters in their legal fight against the Obamacare mandate forcing the nuns to provide abortifacients as part of their health insurance plan or face massive IRS fines.

On New Year’s Eve, 2013, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a temporary stay blocking the Obamacare contraception mandate, and the Little Sisters enjoyed another reprieve from the Supreme Court in January 2014, when the court ruled they did not have to provide birth control that violated their religious beliefs while their case worked its way through the appeals court system.

And then came the bad news. This summer, the Tenth Circuit United States Court of Appeals ruled against the Little Sisters of the Poor, acknowledging that while the nuns sincerely disagreed with the mandate, the government’s contraception delivery scheme relieved them from complicity.

And now the story continues. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which has been assisting the nuns in their court battle, has petitioned the Supreme Court to review the Tenth Circuit’s decision.

IT'S OFFICIAL: Little Sisters of the Poor case set for SupCt vote Oct 30th. Could learn shortly thereafter if Justices will hear the appeal.

— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) October 14, 2015

https://twitter.com/Johnbrody62/status/654382419118845952

Kristina Arriaga, executive director of the Becket Fund, said this week that aside from the Pope’s visit, there have been two other good signs:

… the Pope’s visit took place shortly after five federal judges in the Tenth Circuit decried the ruling against the Sisters as “dangerous” and “contrary to all precedent concerning the free exercise of religion.”

And just last week, three more federal judges weighed in to round out the choir of 18 judges that are exposing the inherent flaws of the Government’s scheme.