Supreme Court To Hear Cases From Religious Foes of Contraception

[Panich52]

Hobby Lobby's disgustingly wrong win lingers on...

National Law Journal

Supreme Court To Hear Cases From Religious Foes of Contraception

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear religious nonprofit organizations' claims to an outright exemption from providing their female employees with contraceptive health insurance under the federal Affordable Care Act.
The high court will consider seven challenges—consolidated for review—by religious nonprofit organizations to the way the government accommodates their objections to contraceptive health insurance under the federal health care law.
The high court's action marks the fourth time in three years that the nation's controversial health insurance law has come under the justices' microscope.
The seven petitions challenge four separate decisions by four different federal appellate courts that upheld the government's accommodation regarding coverage of contraceptive services.
The federal health care regulations require health insurance plans to provide free contraceptive coverage. However, in response to objections by religious-affiliated employers, the government has provided an "opt out" of that mandate in two ways: the employers may file a form to the insurer or the government that they have religious objections to the coverage, or they may submit a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services stating their objections.
The religious nonprofits that have turned to the Supreme Court contend that merely filling out the form or writing the letter make them complicit in providing the contraceptive health coverage because it facilitates their employees receiving the coverage.
The justices directed the religious organizations and the government to address whether the contraceptive coverage requirement and the government's accommodation violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. Specifically, the court wants to know whether the accommodations constitute a substantial burden on the organizations' exercise of religion, and whether they are not the least restrictive means of achieving any compelling interest of the government.
Seven of eight federal circuit courts have upheld the government's accommodation: ...

http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202741851593/#.Vj4wPw4q6Zk.twitter



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[niyad]

1. and the war on women continues apace

[CincyDem]

2. the "assault" on women continues apace

Not sure where I read it, maybe even somewhere here...

Article differentiated the language of a war on women vs. an assault.

War implies two sides battling, one seeking to achieve superiority over the other.
Assault implies one side abusing the other to establish or maintain some level of superiority while the other side simply grasps for equality.

There's no war on women - it's an outright assault and it's being waged on every single vector imaginable.

These f'ing right wingers aren't going to be satisfied until every woman is pushed out of the workforce, back in the kitchen - barefoot and pregnant - with their only means of financial support being a man and medical support being a coat hanger.

Yeah - I know it sounds extremist but someone tell me, as you look at this continual march against women's issues, when is it enough for them...at what point short of the 18th century do these guys say "ya know, I think we can relax now...we've taken back enough".

I stand by my age old philosophy, I should make it my signature...

I don't know how anyone with a daughter, a sister, or a mother can be a republican today.

[niyad]

4. thank you for this excellent post. would you consider making it its own OP so that we can rec it?

no, it doesn't sound extremist at all--actually, it is pretty mild compared to what they are actually doing. and yet, even on this board, there are people in denial.

[Demeter]

3. What are those 4 Idiots thinking?

(It takes 4 InJustices to schedule a hearing...)

Losing faith in America: Study shows decline in religion, rise in atheism

Christianity in America is declining and the country is becoming more secular, according to a new report from the respected Pew Research Center.

While seven out of 10 Americans still identify with a religion, the number professing 'no religion' has grown to 56 million, making the 'nones' group the second largest behind evangelicals. Protestant Christians now comprise only 46.5 per cent of what was once a predominantly Protestant country.

The findings are based on the 2014 Religious Landscape Study of 35,000 people. A previous survey was conducted in 2007 and the 2014 study was designed to be comparable.

It showed that the decline in Christian affiliation was particularly pronounced among young adults, but was noticeable across all ages, all races and people with different levels of education. It represents a fall of nearly eight percentage points in the number describing themselves as Christians, from 78.4 per cent to 70.6 per cent. Over the same period, the percentage of Americans who describe themselves as atheist, agnostic or "nothing in particular" has jumped more than six points, from 16.1 per cent to 22.8 per cent. Those identifying with non-Christian faiths have also increased, from 4.7 per cent in 2007 to 5.9 per cent in 2014....

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/losing.faith.in.america.study.shows.decline.in.religion.rise.in.atheism/53790.htm

[niyad]

5. they are not thinking, they are reacting based on their religious prejudices. don't forget that

FIVE members of the court are catholic, and very conservative ones at that.