The president of the US episcopal conference welcomed Friday’s Supreme Court ruling, which granted an injunction to the Little Sisters of the Poor as they fight the government mandate requiring employers to provide free sterilization, abortifacients and contraception through employees’ insurance plans.
The Little Sisters of the Poor run retirement homes for the poor elderly.
Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) welcomed the move by the U.S. Supreme Court, January 24, to extend an injunction granted by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, December 31, exempting the Little Sisters of the Poor and others in their lawsuit from the Department of Health and Human Services’ contraception mandate while their appeal is pending.
“The bishops of the United States welcome the Court’s protection of ministries like the Little Sisters whose vital work is at the heart of what it means to be Catholic,” said Archbishop Kurtz.
The injunction from the Court states that if the parties before it write to the Secretary of Health and Human Services that they are non-profit organizations, that they are religious in nature, and that they object to providing the coverage required by the HHS mandate, those employers will be protected until a decision is made by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, which is currently reviewing the case.
