letter is the 'but for' cause of the evil being done—that is, but for the Little Sisters signing the form the government demands, the transaction of their insurers providing the contraception the government demands would not occur." In an Amicus brief to the court, 50 Catholic theologians and ethicists wrote in support of the Sisters' position. They wrote that abortion, sterilization, and contraception "are grave wrongs under the Catholic faith." The authors explained that in Catholic tradition a "material cooperation" with wrongdoing is when "the believer could reasonably foresee that his or her action will facilitate or assist the performance of the objectionable action by the third party, but does not share in the principal agent's intention to commit the action." The brief also put forward the position that if the Sisters complied with the mandate, it could qualify "as formal cooperation in wrongdoing…when the believer, in cooperating, shares in the intention that the forbidden action be committed by the other party." According to the brief, "Many theologians in the Catholic tradition have concluded that an agent who obeys a command to perform an action in furtherance of an immoral objective comes to share in the immoral intention of the commander, even if the objective is contrary to the agent’s personal preferences, and even if the action is performed under duress. On this view, such an agent engages in formal cooperation with wrongdoing, which is never permissible." Reflecting on Catholic tradition, the authors also wrote, "compliance with the Mandate in any form would cause 'scandal,' or encouraging others to engage in wrongdoing. ..create the appearance of complicity...[and] undermine their public witness against the use of abortifacients and contraceptives." They conclude that in line with Catholic tradition the Sisters "very reasonably conclude that compliance with the Mandate—whether by executing Form 700, by submitting the HHS Notice, or by maintaining a health plan or insurance relationship through which the objectionable coverage is provided—would involve either formal cooperation in wrongdoing, or impermissible material cooperation in serious wrongdoing, and would therefore be gravely wrongful." As use of Form 700 "is designed to facilitate providing contraceptive coverage" by giving the government information it can use "to assign to [a] third party the obligation for providing contraceptive coverage", they cannot comply, as this is "objectively immoral" and any actions that aid in bringing about that end share in its immorality. Some Catholics, such as co-litigant Bishop