According to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a public-interest law firm dedicated to protecting the free expression of all religious traditions, arguments were heard yesterday in Little Sisters of the Poor v. Burwell, a closely watched case that has already been to the Supreme Court once. The case involves the government’s mandate forcing religious ministries to violate their faith or pay massive IRS penalties.
For the first time since the case began, Sr. Loraine Marie Maguire, Mother Provincial of the Little Sisters of the Poor, delivered a public statement on the case.
"As Little Sisters of the Poor, we offer the neediest elderly of every race and religion a home where they will be welcomed as Christ, cared for as family and accompanied with dignity until God calls them to Himself. We have done this for over 175 years because of our faith in God and our vocation as Little Sisters of the Poor," Sister Maguire said outside the courthouse yesterday.
"But now the government demands we choose between our care for the elderly poor and our faith. We cannot do that and we should not have to. It is a choice that violates our nation’s historic commitment to ensure that people from diverse faiths can freely follow God’s calling in their lives. But the government forces us to either violate our conscience or take millions of dollars that we raise by begging for the care of the elderly poor and instead pay fines to the IRS."
As the Becket Fund explains, although the government allows exemptions for church and church-type entities from the HHS Mandate for religious reasons, this accommodation does not include the Little Sisters simply because the government refuses to classify them as a “religious employer.” As a result, the Little Sisters are forced to hire a third party to provide these objectionable services to their employees, thus forcing them to participate in the government's scheme even though providing contraception, abortion and sterilization services violates their deeply held religious beliefs.
"We are not seeking special privileges," Sister Maguire said yesterday. "The government exempts huge corporations, small businesses, and other religious ministries from what they are imposing on us–we are simply asking to carry on our mission to serve the elderly poor as we have always done for 175 years."
Thus far, the Sisters' case has met with mixed results. Filed as a class action lawsuit, the lead plaintiffs are the Little Sisters of the Poor homes in Denver and Baltimore but the suit also includes the Christian Brothers Employee Benefit Trust and Christian Brothers Services.
After a trial court and the Tenth Circuit denied a preliminary injunction last year, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the Little Sisters an injunction pending appeal, protecting them from enforcement while they litigate their appeal at the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.
"A year after losing at the Supreme Court, the government’s aggressive pursuit of the Little Sisters of the Poor continues," says Becket Fund Senior Counsel Mark Rienzi. "Untold millions of people have managed to get contraceptives without the involvement of nuns. The idea that the most powerful government in the world cannot come up with a way to distribute these products without forcing the Little Sisters to participate is ridiculous."
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