California and Pennsylvania Sue Nuns

Calif., Pa. Sue Nuns to Make Them Pay for Abortions by Brendan Clarey

The Little Sisters of the Poor are again headed to court, this time against California and Pennsylvania, who are suing to remove the group from a religious exemption provided by new guidelines from the Department of Health and Human Services.

DHHS issued new guidelines in October concerning religious exemptions, but California and Pennsylvania are suing the nuns to make them provide contraceptives and abortifacients according to a federal mandate, according to press releases by Becket Law, the nonprofit law firm representing Little Sisters.

Both states have Democrat Attorneys General, and Mark Rienzi, senior counsel at Becket, objected Tuesday to their motivations for suing the religious group.

PREVIOUSLY: HHS Rule Fix Would Halt Obamacare Abuse of Little Sisters of the Poor, but, “Sadly Josh Shapiro and Xavier Becerra think attacking nuns is a way to score political points,” Rienzi said. “These men may think their campaign donors want them to sue nuns, but our guess is most taxpayers disagree.

"No one needs nuns in order to get contraceptives, and no one needs these guys reigniting the last administration’s divisive and unnecessary culture war.”

The recent HHS guidelines that provide the exemption do so based on religious conscience and excuse groups like the Little Sisters from having to comply with the federal contraceptive and abortifacient mandate in the Affordable Care Act.

The interdepartmental rules were made to provide groups like Little Sisters of the Poor greater protections based on their faith.

“The United States has a long history of providing conscience protections in the regulation of health care for entities and individuals with objections based on religious beliefs and moral convictions,” the new HHS guidelines read.

“These interim final rules expand exemptions to protect religious beliefs for certain entities and individuals whose health plans are subject to a mandate of contraceptive coverage through guidance issued pursuant to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” the guidelines state.