The Little Sisters of the Poor Just Beat Obama in Court

The Obama administration wanted to fine them $70 million per year for their religious objection to taking part in a government scheme to distribute birth control. Nine times the government rewrote regulations that would force the nuns to take part in the plan or be fined out of existence, each time claiming that the present version of regulations was as far as they could go to accommodate religious belief. Each time the sisters remained steadfast. Their story never changed. They didn’t weigh in on the government’s birth control plan except to say they wanted no part in it, due to their long-standing, sincerely held religious beliefs.

Yesterday the court ruled against the fines and vacated lower court rulings against the sisters.

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Yet hope remains while the Company is true ... - Galadriel

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There is no such thing as a “birth control only” policy. The Affordable Care Act simply doesn’t allow any type of insurance that isn’t comprehensive to be sold on the exchange marketplaces. Roberts either didn’t know that, or was pretending not to. In most states, even dental plans for adults are only available to those who also are buying full-coverage medical insurance.

In other words, it is impossible, under current law, to go out and buy contraceptive-only coverage on the exchanges. That would amount to “creating a new program,” as Sotomayor said. These marketplaces are intended for people whose employers don’t even offer them health benefits, not for people seeking supplemental coverage of some kind.

Even if the law were changed to make it possible to buy “birth control only” coverage, insurers would have little incentive to offer it. Insurance works when lots of people buy it and only some people use it. A customer in the market for an insurance policy that covers only one thing — like contraception — presumably intends to use that benefit, which undermines the entire point of insurance.

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