An attack on conscience

Richard A. Sokerka

It is deeply disturbing that the Little Sisters of the Poor again find themselves in court defending their community against attempts to force this religious order to violate their conscience.

The Supreme Court of the United States began hearing oral arguments May 6 in the case of Little Sisters of the Poor v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Other states have joined this suit against the Little Sisters including California, and sadly, New Jersey.

For nearly a decade, the Little Sisters of the Poor have been embroiled in an unending legal conflict to save their ministry. It dates back to 2011 when the Obama Ad­minis­tration finalized rules requiring employers to offer cost-free contraceptives, sterilizations, and emergency birth control in employee health plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In 2013, the Obama Adminis­tration targeted the Little Sisters of the Poor for not following the mandate’s requirements, threatening them with burdensome fines if they would not comply with it. So, the Little Sisters reluctantly went to court and won relief from the Supreme Court, but now several state governments are on the attack again.

In a statement, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) said, “The Little Sisters of the Poor is an international congregation that is committed to building a culture of life. They care for the elderly poor, a ministry we appreciate even more as we endure a pandemic to which the elderly poor are particularly vulnerable. It is dismaying that after the federal government expanded religious exemptions to the HHS contraceptive mandate, Pennsylvania and other states chose to continue this attack on conscience. We are hopeful that the Supreme Court will reaffirm the freedom of our Catholic religious orders to practice their faith and to serve others in love.”

“For nearly a decade, we have been in a battle for the soul of our ministry,” said Sister Loraine Marie Maguire, Mother Provincial of the Little Sisters of the Poor. “We could not comply with the mandate. To do so would undermine our most important belief: that all life is valuable,” she said. “We cannot hold the hands of the elderly dying, while at the same time facilitating the ending of unborn life.”

The Little Sisters of the Poor are standing up to defend their religious exemption and to preserve accommodations from onerous government regulations for all faith-filled people. They know that the lawsuit and the mandate is not about ensuring that women have access to contraception. It is about attacking the conscience rights of all believers to make sure everyone, regardless of their creed, complies with the government’s secular vision for society.

We stand firmly with the Little Sisters of Poor, and pray the Supreme Court will finally end this travesty of justice by state governments.