Get Thee Out of a Nunnery

Get thee to a nunnery.

Shakespeare (1564-1616),  Hamlet

Yesterday in a temporary order, the Supreme Court exempted a group of Denver nuns, the Little Sister of the Poor, who hire 75 employees, from ObamaCare’s contraceptive mandate.  The mandate dictates tha  employers must offer contraceptive coverage to women employees without co-payments.

The New York Times described  the nuns' exemption this way:

"The Supreme Court on Friday extended a temporary order from Justice Sonia Sotomayor barring the Obama administration from enforcing the contraception coverage requirement of the Affordable Care Act against an order of Roman Catholic nuns."

"The justices said their order should not be construed as an expression of their views on the merits of the case."

"Nevertheless, it was a setback for the White House, the Justice Department and federal health officials, who say women will benefit immensely from access to contraceptives at no cost."

  (Robert Pear, “In Nuns’ Suit, Justices Block Key Mandate in Health Law, New York Times, January 24, 2014).

To comply with the Supreme Court temporary reprieve,  the nuns simply have to certify they are a religious organization that  objects to the mandate because it violates their religious beliefs.

The order is not directly related to another law suit, now percolating up to the Supreme Court,  of for-profit companies, Hobby Lobby Stores and Conestra Wood Specialties, who also object to the Contraceptive Mandate because it violates their Protestant Christian ethics.

The exemption is a setback for the Obama administration because it sets the tone for a series of other lawsuits evolving from other courts challenging other ObamaCare mandates.  The nuns' decision  is embarrassing  and follows on the heels of  delay of the Employer Mandate.  Will the Individual Mandate be the next Mandate  to be challenged and delayed?

All of which raises these questions:

What if the contraceptive mandate falls,

What if it even for the poor nuns it stalls?

What, pray tell,  will come next?

What will happen to safe sex?

What will happen to affairs and adultery?

And other fandangos outside the nunnery?

Outlawing pay for a contraceptive,

Can be a very deceptive elective.
What, you ask, pay for it?
Yes, it only costs a bit.

Tweet:   The Supreme Court has issued a temporary reprieve for nuns from the contraceptive mandate.