I had a strong moment of deja vu when I read this story from our editor Brett, based on reporting from the Becket Fund. I was certain that the Little Sisters of the Poor had gone to court over the Obamacare birth control rule and won.
I was correct. Since 2014, the Catholic nuns, who have spent the past two centuries serving the poor and elderly, have been fighting our government in court for the protection of their First Amendment rights. They won in 2016, when the Supreme Court ruled in their favor. They won again in 2017, when the Trump administration issued a rule that protected groups like the Little Sisters from the contraception rule.
In 2020, they won again at the Supreme Court, and you would think this case was settled.
You would think wrong. New Jersey and Pennsylvania sued -- once again -- and now a federal court has ruled against the Little Sisters.
This is reminiscent of the saga of Jack Phillips, owner of Colorado's Masterpiece Cakeshop. Much like the Little Sisters, Phillips spent more than a decade fighting off lawsuits and government mandates for refusing to make cakes that celebrate gay marriage and the LGBTQ lifestyle.
In both cases, the process was the punishment, and the purpose of such onerous lawfare was not to better the lives of anyone -- it was to punish Christians for daring to run their businesses in accordance with their faith.
Just a quick reminder that the Obamacare contraception/abortifacient mandate was never needed. 99% plus of employers were very willing to include this coverage. The exceptions were religious employers. The whole POINT was to provoke a culture war against religious liberty.
— Casey Mattox (@CaseyMattox_) August 14, 2025
Democrats and their Leftist activist base have made it very clear that Christians have two choices: bend the knee to the progressive state or face financial ruin. It's not enough that contraceptives are available everywhere, including over the counter for less than $30.
They have to force every institution -- especially the religious ones -- to conform to their worldview. First Amendment be damned.
Earlier, I told you anti-Trump scold David French was appalled that the people he endorsed and voted for -- who were very open and vocal about their disdain for Christians -- would continue attacking the Little Sisters. Then again, David French is the same guy who believes what's happening to the Little Sisters is the proper course of action:
Hobby Lobby won at SCOTUS. Masterpiece Cakeshop won at SCOTUS (7-2). Speech codes have been struck down from coast to coast. When parts of the left tried to suppress liberty, they lost. So it's just false to say the only option is to "fight fire with fire."
— David French (@DavidAFrench) April 23, 2022
Get that? It only took Jack Phillips 12 years and the Little Sisters 14 years (and counting) to fight off the Left's suppression of liberty. In Washington, the Catholic Church has just begun fighting the state's anti-Catholic mandatory reporting law. Heaven only knows how long that'll be dragged through the courts.
Yay justice! Or something.
What happens to people and organizations who don't have the legal and financial backing that Jack Phillips and the Little Sisters are fortunate enough to have?
So much for our rights, I guess. Rights are only for the people David French likes, or those of us wealthy enough to fight a tyrannical government for years on end.
This also shows -- once again -- the Left believes they are above the law. The Supreme Court has ruled twice now that the Little Sisters of the Poor have a right not to provide abortion and contraception coverage. But the powers-that-be in Pennsylvania and New Jersey have decided to ignore the Supreme Court, and a federal judge has sided with the former.
Guys like French would prefer we not 'fight fire with fire.' But it's clear the Left is continuing to take a blowtorch to our rights and our freedoms in the name of whatever cause du jour they happen to be pushing. Today, it's abortion and contraceptives. Tomorrow, it'll be something else.
The point is, despite all the wins we've had since President Trump took office, the Left doesn't rest, and it never stops. Their agenda is to crush us all under the heel of their progressive boots. The Left has no qualms about taking a flamethrower to our rights and liberties, and the only way they'll stop is if they are smacked down repeatedly.
The culture war is far from over, and the time to 'fight fire with fire' is yesterday.
