Key takeaways from the Little Sisters argument @ #SCOTUS today:
1. It was clear the gov’t has many ways to give out contraception. It doesn’t need to conscript nuns. So #ReligiousFreedom protects the Sisters.
1. It was clear the gov’t has many ways to give out contraception. It doesn’t need to conscript nuns. So #ReligiousFreedom protects the Sisters.
2. The states haven’t identified a SINGLE woman ever denied coverage due to a religious exemption. As the Obama Admin admitted, they get coverage on family plans, on the exchange, or other gov’t programs. Zero harm.
3. The states' argument was exposed as startlingly broad. It not only attacked the exemption for the Sisters. It said the gov’t even lacked authority to exempt CHURCHES. Alito jumped on this; no Justice seemed to buy it.
4. Kagan asked some very positive questions--made clear the Sisters don’t “object to objecting”; they object to complicity. Also pressed the state on its double-standard under the APA. Very good signs.
5. As General Francisco said in closing, an exemption for the Little Sisters brings this long-running dispute to a durable end. That’s the right result.
6. Bottom line: Much reason for optimism. Protecting religious freedom will let the Little Sisters keep doing what they do best--serving the elderly poor. #LetThemServe
