Tomorrow the short-handed Supreme Court will hear arguments on the case brought by the Little Sisters of the Poor on whether they should be forced to go through the paperwork so that their employees can get free contraception and abortifacients under Obamacare.
The government says that the Roman Catholic nuns aren’t being forced to provide contraception. Rather, they just have to declare that they are opting out so that their insurance company can provide the services for free. Since they aren’t paying for the pills and devices, argues the government, they aren’t violating their religious beliefs.
But that shows complete ignorance of Roman Catholic moral theology. For one thing, the morality of an action depends, in part, on the intention. In this case, the intention of filing the paperwork would be to let employees commit a grave sin. Also, it isn’t just sinful if an individual does something wrong. Causing someone else to sin can be even worse.
From ObamaCare returns to Supreme Court, as religious charities fight contraception mandate | Fox News:
President Obama’s signature health care law once again is coming before the Supreme Court, this time in a case involving nuns who say the law’s contraception mandate violates their religious freedom rights.
The Little Sisters of the Poor, a Catholic nonprofit that cares for the elderly in need, will make their case before the Supreme Court -– and an equally divided bench -– on Wednesday during a 90-minute public session.
Falling in the middle of the election year, the session Wednesday will mark the fourth major high court review of the controversial Affordable Care Act.
At the heart of the case, the eight justices will decide whether religious-affiliated institutions like LSP deserve the same First Amendment protection that some for-profit corporations enjoy. Churches and other houses of worship also already are exempt from ObamaCare’s requirement to offer contraceptive coverage to employees.
But religious-affiliated groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor, while not required to directly provide contraceptive coverage, must instead sign a form authorizing a third-party administrator to provide contraceptives without the employers’ direct involvement.
Catholic groups like the LSP say signing the form amounts to tacit approval for such coverage and would force them “to choose between onerous penalties or becoming complicit in a grave moral wrong.”
“The government demands that the Little Sisters of the Poor sign a permission slip for abortion drugs and contraceptives, or pay of millions in fines” for non-compliance, said Mark Rienzi, senior counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the group representing the nuns. “The sisters believe that doing that violates their faith, and that they shouldn’t be forced to divert funds from the poor, elderly and dying people they’ve devoted their lives to serve.”
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