Judge Sotomayor Court Judge of the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, Tuesday ordered the postponement of part of health care reform, which takes effect January 1 today, at the request of the Little Sisters of the Poor, in catering residences people without economic resources. The decision blocks the obligation on all employers to ensure their workers access to contraception and the morning-after pill. 01/01/14 11:03 a.m. | Print | Email (Agencies / InfoCatólica) The judge of the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, ordered Tuesday to postpone a part of health care reform at the request of Little Sister of the Poor (Little Sisters of the Poor), which have different residences for people without financial resources in the United States. The judge’s decision blocking the implementation of religious organizations as required under the new law, to provide their employees health insurance plans including means of birth control. Sotomayor has given deadline to the government until Friday to respond to its decision to postpone this part of health reform this first of January, began its journey in the country. A number of Catholic organizations and other religious groups that had failed to curb this provision of the new law in lower courts, had brought an action before the Supreme to annul the so-called individual «mandate» related to contraceptives. Sotomayor’s decision responds to a request in particular promoted by a congregation of Catholic nuns in Colorado. Catholic organizations asked Tuesday in an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, a requirement of the Health Act known as Obamacare, which will force them to ensure their workers access to contraception and the pill is delayed the next day. The Archdiocese of Washington DC, Tennessee and Michigan along with affiliated groups including the Catholic University, asked the Supreme Court to block the execution of that part of the legislation, known as the Affordable Care Act, which takes effect Wednesday . The issue has caused friction between government, religious groups and private companies that have strong moral objections. Under the final rules negotiated between the government and a variety of outside groups, churches and places of worship are exempt from the mandate. But other groups are not affiliated nonprofit religious associations as hospitals run by the church and parochial schools profit. Those places, in accordance with the law, must provide contraceptive coverage to their employees at no cost or for an insurance company that provides the service without the direct involvement of the employer. «Tomorrow, applicants (of Catholic organizations) will be forced to choose between onerous penalties or become complicit in a serious moral damage» the groups said in a filing with the Court. «Just as an individual can be held liable for aiding and abetting a crime he did not commit, Catholics too can violate the moral law to cooperate third commit acts contrary to Catholic beliefs,» the groups said. Yet the date on which the Supreme Court may hold sessions is known about it. The high court agreed in November to study two cases involving for-profit corporations who claim that their religious freedom is violated by law. Among the applicants is Hobby Lobby, an American chain of crafts. The topic of discussion will be whether private companies can reject the law if it violates their religious rights. The company Green Family, owner of Hobby Lobby, said that oppose the morning after pill because they believe that abortion is a violation of their faith and, although not opposed to all contraceptives. The White House said in November that it considers that facilitate the procurement of contraceptives «is essential to the health of women.» A few hours before the Act came into force, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, the Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked implementation of a part of the new health law that required some religiously affiliated organizations to offer their employees insurance health to include measures for birth control. The decision of Judge Sotomayor, of Puerto Rican origin, occurs after numerous efforts affiliate Catholic groups across the country, who went to federal court to prevent the implementation, starting Wednesday, parts of the Affordable Healthcare Act known as Obamacare. Sotomayor responded to a request by an organization of Catholic nuns in Denver, Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged, emergency stopping another request previously denied by a federal appeals court. «The government is ordered to temporarily suspend the implementation of the contraceptive coverage requirement imposed by the Act Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care,» Sotomayor said in the order. Sotomayor, who led New York on Tuesday in the countdown to the New Year and activated the mechanism that started the decline of the Times Square lit area, gave the government until Friday at 10 to respond to the order. The law requires employers to provide insurance to a wide range of preventive care, free of charge, as contraception. The Catholic Church forbids the use of contraceptives. The administration of President Barack Obama reached an agreement that attempted to create an accommodation for hospitals, universities and social service groups affiliated with religious organizations that oppose birth control. The law requires insurers or health plan administrators to pay cover birth control and establish ways to reimburse those expenses. But for that to work the nuns should have signed a form authorizing their insurers to offer coverage for contraceptives, which opposes their beliefs, argued his lawyer, Mark Rienzi. «Without an emergency order, the provincial mother Loraine Marie Maguire has to decide between two things: (a) sign and submit a certification form, which violates their religious beliefs, or (b) refuse to sign the form and pay fines onerous, «Rienzi said. The White House would not comment on the court order on Tuesday night. Rienzi said in a statement that he was delighted with the decision by Sotomayor. «The government has many ways to provide contraceptives to the people,» he said. «But you do not need to force the nuns to participate.» The decision Sotomayor to delay the implementation of this part of the health care law was supported by the Federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which also issued an emergency order for groups of Catholic affiliation challenging the clause contraceptives as the Archdiocese of Washington DC and the Catholic University. But one of the three judges on the panel that made the decision, David S. Tatel said that he would have refused the request. «Because I believe that applicants probably fail to enforce its claim that the contested clause imposes a» substantial burden «under the Restoration Act Religious Freedom, I deny your request for a temporary stay pending appeal,» said Tatel. The Archdiocese praised the appeals court’s decision in a statement. «The decision of the Federal Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit adheres to the decisions of courts across the country have held that the mandate imposes a substantial and impermissible burden on the free exercise of religion. These decisions also vindicate the commitment of the Catholic bishops of the United States to remain united in the defense of the first and most sacred freedoms: freedom of religion. » The Supreme Court had already decided to rule on whether businesses can use religious objections to not meet the requirement for coverage of contraceptives for the benefit of employees. It is expected that this case, involving Hobby Lobby Inc., retailer of Oklahoma City with 13,000 full-time employees, alleged in March and decided in the summer.
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