{"id":2626268,"date":"2026-07-07T18:47:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T22:47:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/appeals-court-scrutinizes-exemptions-in-catholic-contraception-fight\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T18:51:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T22:51:15","slug":"appeals-court-scrutinizes-exemptions-in-catholic-contraception-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/appeals-court-scrutinizes-exemptions-in-catholic-contraception-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"Appeals court scrutinizes exemptions in Catholic contraception fight"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fappeals-court-scrutinizes-exemptions-in-catholic-contraception-fight%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2626268&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A federal appeals court recently examined whether teh Trump management&#8217;s 2017 expansion of religious exemptions to the Affordable Care Act\u2019s contraceptive mandate went too far. The case involves challenges from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, arguing that the rules unlawfully allow religious employers to opt out of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-evades-the-constitution-by-letting-failed-nominees-be-de-facto-agency-heads\/\" title=\"Biden sidesteps Constitution by allowing failed nominees as agency heads.\">providing contraceptive coverage<\/a>, potentially affecting about 126,000 women. During the hearing, judges questioned the breadth of the exemptions and how authorities determine employer sincerity. Advocates for the exemptions, including the Little Sisters of the Poor, argue they protect religious freedoms without causing widespread harm, while opponents claim they undermine women&#8217;s access to contraceptive coverage. The court\u2019s decision, expected in the coming months, could impact the scope of religious exemptions under the ACA.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A federal appeals court on Tuesday closely questioned whether the first <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/trump-administration\/\">Trump administration<\/a> in 2017 went too far in expanding religious exemptions to the Affordable Care Act\u2019s <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/contraception\/page\/3\/\">contraception<\/a> mandate, hearing arguments in the latest chapter of the decadelong legal battle involving the Little Sisters of the Poor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit heard challenges brought by <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/pennsylvania\/\">Pennsylvania<\/a> and <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/new-jersey\/\">New Jersey<\/a>, which argue the administration\u2019s rules unlawfully allow religious employers to opt out of <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >providing health insurance coverage<\/a> for contraceptives.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4639518\/judge-quashes-doj-subpoena-fulton-county-2020-election-workers\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Judge quashes \u2018unreasonable\u2019 DOJ subpoena for names of Fulton County election workers<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4639374\/lawsuit-dhs-iran-confidential-information-asylum-seekers\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Lawsuit claims Trump administration is giving Iran confidential information about asylum-seekers<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4639337\/splc-not-guilty-pleas-arraignment-misuse-donor-funds-money-laundering\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>SPLC arraigned on superseding charges of donor fraud<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">This Dec. 1, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/reagan-ally-bill-batchelder-laid-to-rest-in-ohio\/\" title=\"Reagan Ally Bill Batchelder Laid to Rest in Ohio\">2012 file photo shows<\/a> a silhouette of a crucifix and a stained glass window inside a Catholic Church in New Orleans. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert)<\/p>\n<p>&#8221; data-large-file=&#8221;https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/catholic-cross-priest-file-photo.webp?w=696&#8243; &#8220;https:><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This Dec. 1, 2012 file photo shows a silhouette of a crucifix and a stained glass window inside a Catholic Church in New Orleans. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert, File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The panel consisted of Judge Cheryl Ann Krause, an appointee of former President Barack Obama; Judge Jane Roth, an appointee of former President George H.W. Bush; and Judge Arianna Freeman, an appointee of former President Joe Biden.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The dispute stems from regulations issued during Trump\u2019s first administration expanding religious and moral exemptions to the ACA\u2019s contraceptive mandate. In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled the federal government had authority to create those exemptions, but it left open the question of whether the rules complied with the Administrative Procedure Act, allowing Pennsylvania and New Jersey\u2019s challenge to continue.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During Tuesday\u2019s arguments, Krause repeatedly questioned government attorneys and those for the Catholic ministry defending the rules, focusing on whether the exemptions swept too broadly and how federal officials could determine whether employers claiming religious objections were sincere.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHow would they be able to possibly determine what an exercise of religion would be?\u201d Krause asked while questioning the government\u2019s defense of extending exemptions to publicly traded companies.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Amy Thompson, the counsel representing Pennsylvania and New Jersey, argued the exemptions reach well beyond organizations such as the Little Sisters of the Poor and could deprive thousands of women of contraceptive coverage guaranteed under federal law.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She said the agencies estimated roughly 126,000 women could lose employer-sponsored contraceptive coverage if the expanded exemptions remain in place.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe problem that they set out to solve didn\u2019t exist,\u201d Thompson argued, contending the agencies acted arbitrarily by creating exemptions broader than necessary to address existing religious objections.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mark Rienzi, president of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and lead counsel for the Little Sisters, countered that the states were relying on speculative harms rather than real-world evidence after years of the rules being in effect.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cReligious accommodations are the best of our traditions,\u201d Rienzi told the panel. \u201cThey allow live and let live solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rienzi argued the exemptions simply protect ministries that object to providing contraceptive coverage while leaving the mandate in place for most employers. Notably, he pointed out that Pennsylvania \u201ccould have a contraceptive mandate for employers if they wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-25\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-4\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But \u201cthey have not, which is odd,\u201d Rienzi said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also urged the court to dismiss the case, arguing Pennsylvania failed to establish legal standing because it could not identify employers that dropped coverage or demonstrate actual financial harm to the state.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/department-of-justice\/\">Justice Department<\/a> attorney likewise defended the regulations, arguing federal agencies acted within the \u201cvirtually unbridled discretion\u201d the Supreme Court recognized under the Affordable Care Act to craft religious exemptions.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-26\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-5\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The government maintained there was little evidence employers without sincere religious objections would invoke the exemptions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Little Sisters have spent more than a decade fighting the contraceptive mandate through multiple administrations. In 2016, the Supreme Court <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/becketfund.org\/case\/littlesisters\/\">directed the federal government <\/a>to seek a compromise that respected the ministry\u2019s religious objections.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/4549369\/white-house-targets-birth-control-allies\/\">TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TARGETS BIRTH CONTROL TO APPEASE MAHA ALLIES<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Four years later, the justices upheld the Trump administration\u2019s authority to <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/becketfund.org\/case\/little-sisters-v-pennsylvania\/\">expand religious and moral exemptions<\/a>, but they did not resolve whether the rulemaking process itself complied with federal administrative law, which is why this matter is still percolating in court today.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The judges are likely to issue a decision in the coming months.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Court questions Trump\u2019s 2017 religious exemption expansion<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2633,"featured_media":2626269,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/catholic-cross-priest-file-photo.webp?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[33551,24851,33740,82372,41109],"class_list":["post-2626268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-catholic-church","tag-contraception","tag-court-ruling","tag-legal-appeals-2","tag-religious-liberty"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/catholic-cross-priest-file-photo.webp?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2626268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2633"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2626268"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2626268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2626272,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2626268\/revisions\/2626272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2626269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2626268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2626268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2626268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}