Little Sisters of the Poor runs the Mullen
Home for the Aged in Denver, Colo. The group is seeking exemption from
an Affordable Care Act requirement.
Brennan Linsley/AP
As the White House continues dealing with well-publicized problems
with the HealthCare.gov website, there's at least one big question
related to the Affordable Care Act that's outside the president's
control: Can employers with religious objections be compelled to provide
access to contraception coverage for their workers?
Supreme
Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has granted a temporary injunction while
she considers a challenge to the contraception requirement by a group of
nuns called the Little Sisters of the Poor. The Catholic organization
serves the poor elderly.
But the case raises questions that
reverberate beyond health coverage: How do you protect religious freedom
when the beliefs of individuals come into conflict with those of
churches or businesses?
The Issue Of A Signature
The Justice Department
that the nuns' group is already exempt from providing birth control
under the ACA, as long as it certifies its standing as a religious
nonprofit. But the Little Sisters of the Poor, represented by
the Becket
Fund for Religious Liberty, argues that documentation simply condones
employees getting the coverage elsewhere.
"The sisters, under the new Health and Human Services mandate, are
being forced by the government to either sign a form allowing a third
party to provide contraceptives and abortion-causing drugs to their
employees, or they're being threatened with fines," says Becket Fund
director Kristina Arriaga.
Critics are asking, what's the big
deal about signing a form? The form is there expressly for
church-affiliated groups like that of the nuns, so they can register
that they're opting out of contraception coverage. But Arriaga tells
NPR's Arun Rath the provision doesn't do enough to protect religious
liberty.
"Little Sisters of the Poor feel that whether they
provide the [coverage] to their employees or they make someone else do
it, it's the same thing. It's a sin," she says. "They cannot in good
conscience sign that form, and their conscientious objection should
absolutely be respected by the government."
This gets us to the core questions: Who has the right to religious liberty? And what does it mean to exercise that right?
Refusing To Make A Cake
Jay Michaelson, a fellow at the liberal Political Research Associates, on "redefining religious liberty."
"I
think we'd all agree that a church shouldn't be compelled to perform a
ceremony that it doesn't want to perform," he says. "Then the next level
up is religious organizations. So Catholic hospitals, Catholic
charities — do they have to obey the same laws as everyone else, or do
they have a separate set of laws that applies only to them?"
And what about religious liberty for people who bring their religious beliefs outside of the church and into their businesses?
Jack
Phillips' Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colo., makes specialty
cakes, cookies and brownies. He's owned the shop for 20 years.
Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, was sued after he refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding.
Lindsay Pierce/Denver Post via Getty Images
"I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, and so I try in every aspect of
my life to reflect that," he says. "In every way I want to have
integrity in my life and honesty and love for my fellow man and do
everything to the best of my ability to honor Him."
Phillips
says his faith affects everything he does, including how he runs his
business. Last September, that became a problem. Two men came to the
shop and asked for a cake for their wedding.
Phillips told them
he would make cakes for their birthdays and sell them cookies or
brownies, but that he wouldn't make a cake for a same-sex wedding.
"At
which point they both stormed out of the shop," he says. "I just didn't
feel that as a Christian that I would want to participate in a same-sex
wedding by providing the cake and my talents and my business for that
event."
A few weeks later, Phillips got a notice from the
state. The American Civil Liberties Union had filed a lawsuit on behalf
of the two men, alleging Phillips' refusal is illegal discrimination.
Phillips says he is protected by his First Amendment right to live
according to his religious beliefs.
In December, a judge sided
with the ACLU and ordered Phillips to provide the cakes for same-sex
ceremonies. Phillips has appealed.
His case is just one of many
like it. In Washington, another baker and a florist were sued, and an
Oregon bakery is under investigation for refusing to bake a cake for a
gay couple. Arriaga of the Becket Fund says devout business owners have a
right to refuse.
"Many of these bakers and service-providers
for weddings feel that by participating in the wedding ceremony itself,
they're acknowledging in some way that these are valid marriages and
their religion tells them otherwise," she says.
Changes
As
for the rights of those who want to wed, Arriaga says the Becket Fund
believes they have a right to do so in states that allow it. "However,
they should not be forcing individuals who do not agree with their
marriage to participate in this ceremony," she says. "They should seek
out parties that share their religious beliefs."
Michaelson believes that
the legal battles reflect a cultural shift in America.
"There
are a number of people who really believe that we've lost our moral
center when it comes to matters of sexuality and gender," he says. "And
they have pretty good reasons for that — I just think the cure is not
abridging people's freedom, but coming to a more expansive understanding
of what being in a civil democracy is about."
At Masterpiece
Cakeshop, the fight continues. Phillips has appealed his case on
religious-liberty grounds. But what if he loses and the courts say he
must provide cakes for same-sex ceremonies?
"I won't provide
the service. It goes against my core beliefs, and I can't be forced to
do something against my will, regardless of what the law says," Phillips
says.
He knows he could face fines or even lose his business
license, but he says, "That's a small price to pay for my faith and for
my citizenship."
Source
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