Pope Francis quietly met Wednesday evening with the Little Sisters of the Poor, the order of Catholic nuns suing the Obama administration over its contraceptive mandate, Forbes reported.
The meeting was short and largely under the radar compared to other stops on the pope’s itinerary, but the Vatican signaled that the unscheduled meeting should be taken as an endorsement of the nuns’ lawsuit.
“This is a sign, obviously, of support for them,” Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican’s press secretary, said in a press conference on Wednesday night, according to Forbes.
In their legal challenge, the Little Sisters of the Poor are objecting to the fact that they have to fill out a form in order to receive an accommodation from Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate. They say even signing the form makes them complicit in providing birth control they oppose on religious grounds, even as it triggers a process for their employees to receive contraceptive coverage outside the nuns’ insurance plan.
The Supreme Court initially ordered a temporary injunction in the nuns’ favor while they challenged the rule, but in July a federal appeals court sided with the administration and said that filling out the form did not infringe on their religious rights. The Becket Fund, the religious advocacy law firm that is representing the nuns, has appealed their case to the Supreme Court.
Earlier this year, Pope Francis reiterated the Catholic Church’s opposition to artificial contraceptives.
NoooNNONoNononNOoooo!!! Not the EVIL forms again.
Kind of like a certain county clerk we all know.
I am trying to figure out how filling out a form, which essentially asks for the accommodation, damages the Little Sisters of the Poor in any way,
You know…if you think about this crap it’s really gotta be a bunch of shit. When did all this start? Right after they were told they could do it. Where were these “Sisters” 20 years ago? Wherever they were they were keeping their mouths shut. They didn’t have those concerns then? Sure they did but they couldn’t get away with the crap we’re up to today so they just complied. But they’ve been empowered by a bunch of religious hustlers and now the can do it so they do.
I don’t remember anyone bitching about birth control in 1968 when my sister got it. And she got it in a Catholic run hospital. Granted that was in Holland but when she came to the USA in the 70’s there was no one squawking this and BC was everywhere. She got it here no problem. This is just a fucking wingnut fad. It’s an in style thing so their all doing it. Cakes, marriage certificates and Birth Control. There will be more. It’s a fucking fad like beanie babies or hula hoops.
What I find interesting is that this little tidbit - support for the most radical legal theory advanced by “conservatives” in the past two decades - is utterly unremarked in the right-wing coverage of his visit. Clearly - and unsurprisingly - he supports their desire to avoid allowing the use of contraception, and as lovely as he is relative to the two radical reactionary-cum-fundamentalist whackos who preceded him, this legal position is ridiculous and makes a mockery of our laws.
This “exemption” nonsense is nothing more than an attempt to assert the supremacy of religious doctrine over the constitution.
As a non-Catholic I like this Pope very much. That does not mean I have to agree with every position he takes. I support this feature of the ACA and think those using their religion to force they views on others is wrong. This is Hobby Lobby all over again. Fortunately in America, I simply don’t have to shop there anymore. I have a voice. It’s called my wallet.