7th Cir: Notre Dame must submit form to avoid paying for contraceptives

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of Notre Dame’s request for court-ordered exception to the contraception mandate under the Affordable Care Act. The case had returned from the Supreme Court after the high court decided Hobby Lobby v. Sebelius. Find the decision here.

Judge Richard Posner wrote the forty-page majority opinion, with Judge David Hamilton writing a concurrence. Judge Joel Flaum dissented. Continue reading “7th Cir: Notre Dame must submit form to avoid paying for contraceptives”

What Hobby Lobby Says and What That Means for Religious Organizations

 

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© Wikimedia Commons user CyberXRef

Today the United States Supreme Court held on a 5–4 vote that the Religious Freedom
Restoration Act (RFRA) prohibits the federal government from forcing a closely
held corporation to provide contraception to which the company’s owners object
based on their sincerely held religious beliefs. This will likely mean that the Obama administration will extend the accommodations made to religious nonprofits under the Affordable Care Act (A.C.A.) will also apply to closely held corporations that have religious objections to some or all types of contraception. While the decision did not involve religious organizations, they can take this decision as providing more room to use nontraditional structures for purposes churches don’t typically pursue. Continue reading “What Hobby Lobby Says and What That Means for Religious Organizations”