A federal district court in New York on Monday exempted a handful of Catholic organizations from the Obamacare mandate that requires groups to provide contraception coverage for their employees, Bloomberg Businessweek reported.
U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan wrote in the opinion that the Catholic groups protesting the mandate “have demonstrated that the mandate, despite accommodation, compels them to perform acts that are contrary to their religion.”
Four groups affiliated with the Catholic Archdiocese of New York — Catholic Health Care System, Catholic Health Services of Long Island, Cardinal Spellman High School and Monsignor Farrell High School — sued the federal government for the exemption.
A federal appeals court in November ruled in an Ohio case that the contraception mandate limits the right to free exercise of religion.
The Supreme Court announced in November that it will take up two cases on the constitutionality of the mandate.