The Supreme Court's "Little Sisters" Ruling

This Abridge News topic aggregates four unique arguments on different sides of the debate. Here are the quick facts to get you started:

THE QUICK FACTS

• On July 8th, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an exemption granted by the Trump administration allowing Little Sisters of the Poor, a Catholic religious institute that runs homes for the elderly poor, to avoid the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) mandate that employers and insurers must provide cost-free access to contraceptives.
• Government estimates suggest that due to such exemptions, "between 70,500 and 126,400 women of childbearing age" would lose cost-free contraceptive coverage.
• The court was split 7-2, with Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor dissenting. Writing for the majority, Justice Thomas wrote: "The only question we face today is what the plain language of the statute authorizes. And the plain language of the statute clearly allows the Departments to create the preventive care standards as well as the religious and moral exemptions."
• The key issue of the case, as noted by Justice Kagan in her concurring opinion, was "the breadth of the delegation in the Women’s Health Amendment to the ACA." While the ACA provides for the creation of exemptions for employers with "sincerely held religious or moral objections," the Women’s Health Amendment states that insurers "must offer coverage for 'preventive care and screenings... as provided for in comprehensive guidelines supported by [the Health Resources and Services Administration].'"

CLICK TO VIEW OPINIONS ranging from Critical of the Decision to Supportive of the Decision