Nov. 06--The latest objection to the Affordable Care Act before the U.S. Supreme Court won't derail President Barack Obama's federal health care law but could carve out an exception for religious nonprofits, attorneys and legal experts said.
The court said Friday it will hear challenges by the Catholic Dioceses of Pittsburgh and Erie and Geneva College, a Beaver Falls school affiliated with the Reformed Presbyterian Church, along with six other lawsuits from religious organizations around the country objecting to provisions in the federal health care law mandating the church and its affiliate agencies provide coverage for birth control or file a form opting out.
"This has nothing to do with the particulars of the issue, and that's why the court took it," said Bruce Ledewitz, a Duquesne University professor who studies religion and law. "This isn't about abortion. It isn't about conception. It's not about Obamacare, either."
The court will instead consider whether the government has the right to dictate what religious nonprofits can and can't do, Ledewitz said.
Bishop David Zubik of the Pittsburgh diocese said the issue is one of religious freedom.
"The insurance mandate, which is one small provision of the Affordable Care Act, would require us to facilitate access to contraceptives, sterilization and abortifacients contrary to our teaching," Zubik said in a statement Friday. "We are encouraged that the Supreme Court will hear our case and are hopeful that they will rule to protect not only our religious liberty but that of all Americans."
It is the fourth time the Supreme Court will wade into Obama's 5-year-old health care overhaul. This round involves objections by faith-based hospitals, colleges and charities to the process the administration devised to spare them from paying for contraceptives for women covered under their health plans, and yet ensure that those women can obtain birth control at no extra cost.
The justices on Friday said they would hear pending appeals from groups in Colorado, Maryland, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington in addition to Pennsylvania.
The case will be argued in late March.
Sara Rose, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union in Pennsylvania said even if the court rules in favor of the religious groups, it won't dismantle the Affordable Care Act. She expects the ACLU to file a brief in support of the government's position.
The Diocese of Greensburg has filed an objection similar to those from Pittsburgh and Erie. Its case is on hold pending the outcome of the Supreme Court decision.
"I pray that the Supreme Court upholds the right of Catholic organizations and others to practice our faith in the public square without being forced by government regulation to violate our beliefs and moral conscience," Greensburg Bishop Edward C. Malesic said in a statement.
Attorneys cautioned reading too much into previous Supreme Court decisions on the Affordable Care Act. In 2014, the court extended an accommodation in the law made for religious groups to for-profit companies in the Hobby Lobby case, a sign that the court supports the exemption. Geneva College, the Pittsburgh and Erie dioceses and other groups oppose the accommodation. Justice Samuel Alito also temporarily stayed the requirement in April.
"The court has taken extra action to protect religious nonprofits from the sham accommodation," said Gregory Baylor, an attorney for the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Washington firm representing Geneva College. "Again you don't want to read too much into things, but I think those things are indications."
Baylor said the Hobby Lobby case showed how the court approaches these issues. He felt if the court followed the same logic they used in the Hobby Lobby case, the religious groups would prevail.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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