The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether religious nonprofits should be required to provide birth control benefits to female employees even if the employers object to certain contraceptives on religious grounds.
The court announced Friday that it would consider a case brought by East Texas Baptist University and Houston Baptist University against the federal government over a provision of the Affordable Care Act requiring some employers to provide contraceptive coverage. It is one of seven related cases from around the country that the high court agreed to hear at once.
The religious universities oppose emergency contraceptives, including the so-called morning-after pill, and intrauterine devices, which they liken to “abortifacients” — or drugs that induce an abortion. (Health experts and scientists have disputed that claim.)
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Under federal religious freedom laws, religious nonprofits can seek “accommodations” to be exempted from the contraceptive mandate by submitting a form or notification certifying the organization’s objection to paying for contraception coverage on religious grounds. Doing so transfers the administrative obligations of providing contraception coverage from the employer to the insurance company or a third party, which takes over handling the claims.
But the universities argue that requirement infringes on their religious freedom because female employees may still be able to obtain contraception under that process.
See here, here, here, and here for the background. As the Chron notes, the Supremes actually took appeals from seven related contraception/insurance cases and combined them. They’ll hear oral arguments in March and render their decision in June as usual, just in time to capture people’s attention during the Presidential race. ThinkProgress, RH Reality Check, and SCOTUS Blog, which details all seven cases, have more.
The Supreme Court judging science v (claimed) religious belief. This will be interesting.
“Implantation of the preembryo in the uterine lining begins about five days after fertilization. Implantation can be completed as early as eight days or as late as 18 days after fertilization, but usually takes about 14 days. Between one-third and one-half of all fertilized eggs never fully implant. A pregnancy is considered to be established only after implantation is complete.”
Source: American College of Obstetricans and Gynecologists.