Title: Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania - Wikipedia
Headings: Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania
Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania
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Content: As passed, it included a contraceptive mandate established by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), that all employers with the exclusion of churches and other non-profit religious groups must offer plans that include some coverage of contraceptive costs. This applied to religious schools and other for-profit organizations. The mandate led to the Supreme Court case Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., where the Christian-based retail franchise Hobby Lobby argued that the mandate violated their free exercise of religion rights established by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and affirmed in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The Supreme Court affirmed this in its 5–4 ruling, and instead created a temporary exemption that followed the same process used by non-profit religious groups, in which those religious organizations could send a special form to the HHS to state their objection. The HHS then would deal with the insurance agency to assure coverage for contraceptive insurance costs and deal directly with employees, thus eliminating the religious organization's involvement in the mandate. This approach still remained controversial since it left the contraceptive mandate in place, and several lawsuits were filed in the Circuit Courts. A circuit split was created, and the Supreme Court consolidated seven cases into Zubik v. Burwell. Before the case was heard in oral arguments, Justice Antonin Scalia died, and as he had joined the majority in Hobby Lobby, the possibility of a deadlock court was raised. The court did not come to a final opinion on Zubik but instead vacated all decisions on the cases and remanded to their respective courts for further review. Instead, in a per curiam order in May 2016, the Supreme Court requested the parties and courts to work with the HHS to come up with regulations that respected the parties' concerns.