Obama Admin. Exempted Pepsi, Visa And Chevron From HHS Mandate, But Not Little Sisters Of The Poor

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard an appeal from the Little Sisters of the Poor (and 37 other religious charities) to stop the government from forcing them to comply with the Obamacare abortion mandate, which forces companies to cover the cost of birth control and abortifacients. If the Supreme Court doesn’t rule in their favor, Little Sisters of the Poor could face millions in fines.

With only eight judges on the Supreme Court, if the high court splits 4-4, then the lower ruling favoring the Little Sisters will stand and the Obama administration would lose its case. But because many of the organizations involved in today’s case had lower court rulings against them, they would be forced to obey the mandate if the Supreme Court ties.

Previously, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily protected the Little Sisters from the mandate. The Little Sisters then went before the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver to extend that protection, but a panel of the appeals court ruled against them. Eventually the full appeals court ruled in the nuns’ favor, but the Obama administration appealed.

Just dandy, right?

But as it turns out, the Obama administration already exempted many major companies from complying with the mandate– including Pepsi, Visa and Chevron.

From the Catholic News Agency via Life News:

Meanwhile, some other health plans have been “grandfathered” in and are not subject to the mandate. These include plans offered by ExxonMobil, Chevron, Visa Inc. and PepsiCo.

 

Furthermore, the U.S. Military includes a family insurance plan that does not offer the mandated services.

 

And, according to the website, one in three Americans do not have a health plan that satisfies the mandate. The Little Sisters say that since so many employers are offered exemptions under various justifications, there is no reason that they should not receive a religious exemption as well.

 

While a narrow religious exemption to the mandate is offered to houses of worship and their affiliates, many faith-based charities and non-profits – including the Little Sisters – do not qualify due to a stipulation in tax law that was used to determine religious exemptions.

 

Instead, the administration has offered what it calls an “accommodation” whereby religious non-profits such as the Little Sisters can notify the government of their moral objections, and government in turn will order the issuer of their health plan to provide the coverage.

 

However, the Little Sisters argue that this still violates their religious beliefs because they would ultimately be facilitating access to services they believe are immoral. Failure to comply with the mandate would mean fines estimated at $2.5 million per year – 40 percent of what the sisters beg for annually to run their ministry.

Remember that one time the Founding Fathers said the government should have the power to force companies to pay for birth control and abortifacients, or else?

Me either.

Previously, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby, ruling that the Christian company didn’t have to comply with the pro-abortion HHS mandate.

Leave it to the Obama administration to pick a fight with nuns.