Justice Sonia Sotomayor
Over the Christmas holidays, several new breakthroughs emerged in the legal challenges against President Obama’s HHS Mandate.
First, and most notably, on New Year’s Eve Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor granted a preliminary injunction against the Mandate to the Little Sisters of the Poor, a group of Catholic nuns who minister to the elderly. The sisters had appealed a lower court’s decision denying them injunctive relief, so it was a great boon to see Justice Sotomayor reverse that ruling.
Next, Stand Up Coalition members Priests for Life were also granted injunctive relief in their suit against the Mandate, along with other similar groups that are obviously religious, but whose main mission is not providing religious services, like Thomas Aquinas College, a Catholic liberal arts college in California.
Looking at the overall legal landscape, TownHall.com reports that the Obama administration is losing a whopping 88% of the cases challenging the HHS Mandate right now, which is fantastic news!
And in other good signs, Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards is furious over Sotomayor’s decision to grant the sisters an injunction! Though the abortion giant praised her vociferously when she was appointed, Richards was quoted pouting about the recent decision:
Religiously affiliated organizations, including the two that filed this emergency appeal at the Supreme Court, are already able to get an exemption so that they aren’t paying for or administrating coverage of birth control if it violates their religious mission. This exemption ensures that women can get access to affordable birth control no matter where their work, while also addressing the concerns of religiously affiliated organizations.
Apparently Sotomayor, so roundly praised by the left, doesn’t see it quite that way, Cecile!
As more Mandate news pours in, the Stand Up Coalition will deliver it to you right here, so check back often for updates.
