After more than a decade of legal victories, the Little Sisters of the Poor once again find themselves fighting for the right to practice their faith without government interference. Pennsylvania and New Jersey are pressing forward in court to force the order of Catholic nuns—who have served the elderly poor for nearly 200 years—to provide abortion-inducing drugs and contraceptives in their healthcare plan or face crippling fines.
“This is a truly outrageous ruling. After 14 years of litigation, PA and NJ are still trying to force the Little Sisters of the Poor to violate their consciences and now a district court is signing off on it,” said Becket Fund attorney Eric Rassbach, according to LifeSiteNews. He added, “When will the higher courts say ‘Enough is enough!’”
The latest setback came this week when a federal district court in Philadelphia sided with Pennsylvania and New Jersey, striking down a federal religious conscience rule first implemented under the Trump administration. That rule, upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2020, exempted the Little Sisters from the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate. Despite this victory, the states have continued to pursue the nuns in lower courts, seeking to strip away their protections.
Mark Rienzi, president of the Becket Fund and lead attorney for the sisters, warned that the ruling “blessed an out-of-control effort by Pennsylvania and New Jersey to attack the Little Sisters and religious liberty.” He noted that the court “simply ducked the glaring constitutional issues in this case” and that it is “absurd to think the Little Sisters might need yet another trip to the Supreme Court” over the same issue.
The dispute began in 2011, when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a mandate under the ACA requiring employers to cover contraceptives—including some that can cause abortions—in their health plans. While the mandate exempted certain plans for administrative reasons, it provided no broad religious exemption for Catholic orders such as the Little Sisters of the Poor.
The nuns first won relief at the Supreme Court in 2016 and again in 2020, yet Pennsylvania and New Jersey have persisted in trying to force compliance. “As Little Sisters of the Poor, we dedicate our lives to caring for the elderly poor until God calls them home,” said Mother Loraine Marie Maguire, according to LifeSiteNews. “We will continue to fight for the right to carry out our mission without violating our faith, and we pray Pennsylvania and New Jersey will end this needless harassment.”
The Little Sisters have vowed to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, determined to defend their ability to serve the poor in accordance with their Catholic faith. “We will fight as far as we need to fight to protect the Little Sisters’ right to care for the elderly in peace,” Rienzi said.
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