UNITED STATES—Pennsylvania Attorney General, Josh Shapiro filed a lawsuit against Little Sisters of the Poor challenging the exemption they received from the Trump administration in the Health and Human Services Birth Control mandate or to pay fines for not complying.
The mandate demands provisions in health insurance that provide birth control, sterilization, abortion, morning-after pills, and other services that go against their conscience, faith, and violate their religious freedom. Little Sisters of the Poor faced a similar lawsuit from California Attorney General Xavier Becerra in 2018.
The lawsuit was filed under the Obama administration in an attempt to get religious organizations and non-profits to comply with the Obamacare mandate that violate their religious freedom.
During the 2017 National Day of Prayer, President Trump greeted Little Sisters of the Poor after signing the Executive Order offering regulatory relief to groups with religious objections to the contraceptive mandate in the Affordable Care Act.
“With this executive order we are ending the attacks on religious liberty, and we are proudly re-affirming America’s leadership role as a Nation that protects religious freedom for everyone,” said Trump in 2017.
According to the Little Sisters of the Poor web site, the Catholic Nuns take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and hospitality. Their life’s work is to provide a home for the elderly in need and despair, operating 27 homes for the elderly in the U.S.
Mark Rienzi of Becket’s Law Firm is defending the organization whose religious freedom in the lawsuit The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania vs. Trump.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/becketnewsite/LSP-OpeningBrief.pdf
Canyon News reached out to Little Sisters of the Poor, Becket Law Firm and Josh Shapiro for comment, but did not hear back before print.
Canyon News spoke to Xavier Beccero about the lawsuit against Little Sisters of the Poor noting that [They are] “Going after abortion rights. Blocking access to birth control. Attempts to dismantle the entire Affordable Care Act. These conservative attacks threaten access to healthcare for millions. And while California leads the fight in standing up to these assaults, we can’t let Big Pharma sneak by for their role in blocking access to healthcare, too. We’re not.”
