Catholic Fire

By John-Henry Westen on Jan 24, 2014 Despite the best efforts of the Obama Administration, the Supreme Court of the United States decided on Friday afternoon to temporarily block enforcement of the Affordable Care Act on behalf of the Little Sisters of the Poor. The new ruling allows the religious order to avoid the crushing penalties of failing to adhere to the mandate while their legal challenge proceeds by informing the HHS in writing that they are a non-profit group “that hold themselves out as religious and have religious objections to providing coverage for contraceptive services.” The ruling comes after lawyers for the nuns pointed out that in order to claim their exemption, the administration is requiring the nuns to sign a “permission slip” that would allow their insurance company to offer coverage of contraception, abortion-inducing drugs, and sterilization over the nuns' objections. The Sisters argue that participating in the process in any way would make them ...

by Michelle Bauman, assistant editor for Catholic News Agency and EWTN News from CNA blog : This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and dismissed an appeal of California’s Proposition 8 on grounds of standing. But what does this mean? What are the implications of the court decisions? Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly from today’s rulings: The Good: The court did not claim to have discovered a fundamental “right” to marry. If it had done so, it could have imposed a redefinition of marriage on the entire country, forcing widespread recognition of “gay marriage.” Instead, the court chose to issue a more limited ruling, saying in its DOMA decision that the states are free to define marriage as they see fit, but if they choose to recognize same-sex “marriage,” the federal government must acknowledge these “marriages” alongside the marriages of one man and one woman. States are still free to hold a view of marriage as...