US court ruling exempts Sisters from health service contraceptive mandate

Archbishop Joseph E Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has welcomed a decision by the US Supreme Court, on 24 January, to extend an injunction granted by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, on 31 December, 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 US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, which is currently reviewing the case.

Source: USCCB