Justices Give Christian College Stay on Birth-Control Rule

The Supreme Court issued an emergency order Thursday granting an Illinois evangelical college a reprieve from complying with the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate while the school’s case against the rule is litigated, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal report.

The unsigned order drew a furious dissent from the court’s three female justices, who said the majority had disregarded its own June 30 decision in the Hobby Lobby case. In ruling that some for-profit companies can deny birth-control coverage to employees on religious grounds, the court cited the Obama administration’s accommodation for faith nonprofits—allowing them to file a form with the government designating a third party to provide contraceptive coverage—as a reasonable way to address concerns about the rule.

Wheaton College, the subject of Thursday’s order, is one of dozens of faith groups challenging the mandate in court, asserting that the accommodation still makes them complicit in providing birth control and thus violates their religious beliefs. Lower courts had denied the school’s request for an injunction.

The high court said Thursday that the temporary order did not represent an opinion on the merits of the college’s complaint. In a Washington Post blog post, Case Western University law professor Jonathan Adler disputed the women justices’ dissent, writing that neither the Hobby Lobby ruling nor the Wheaton order committed the court to a view on the accommodation for faith groups.