Justices favor religious rights
In 7-2 rulings, Supreme Court sides with Trump, employers
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled broadly Wednesday in favor of the religious rights of employers in two cases that could leave more than 70,000 women without free contraception and tens of thousands of people with no way to sue for job discrimination.
In both cases the court ruled 7-2, with both liberal and conservative justices ruling in favor of the Trump administration and religious employers.
In the more prominent of the two cases, involving President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, the justices greenlighted changes the Trump administration had sought.
The administration announced in 2017 that it would allow more employers to opt out of providing the no-cost birth control coverage required under the law, but lower courts had blocked the changes.
Another particularly important decision for Trump is ahead. The justices are expected to announce Thursday whether Congress and the Manhattan district attorney can see the president’s taxes and other financial records he has fought hard to keep private.
On Wednesday, White House spokeswoman Kayleigh Mcenany joined conservative groups in cheering the court’s contraception decision. “Today’s Supreme Court ruling is a big win for religious freedom and freedom of conscience,” she said in a statement.
Liberal groups and Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, decried the decision, which she called a “fundamental misreading” of the health care law.
Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the majority of the court, said in Wednesday’s decision that the administration had the authority to make the changes and followed appropriate procedures in doing so.
The government had previously estimated that the rule changes would cause between 70,000 women and 126,000 women to lose contraception coverage in one year.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg cited those numbers in dissenting.
“Today, for the first time, the Court casts totally aside countervailing rights and interests in its zeal to secure religious rights to the nth degree,” she wrote in a dissent joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
Separately Wednesday, the Supreme Court sided with two Catholic schools in California in a decision underscoring that certain employees of religious schools can’t sue for employment discrimination.
The court had ruled unanimously in 2012 that the Constitution prevents ministers from suing their churches for employment discrimination, but the justices didn’t rigidly define who counts as a minister.
The case the justices decided Wednesday involved two Catholic school teachers who taught religion as part of their jobs and who sued their schools for discrimination after their contracts were not renewed.
“When a school with a religious mission entrusts a teacher with the responsibility of educating and forming students in the faith, judicial intervention into disputes between the school and the teacher threatens the school’s independence in a way that the First Amendment does not allow,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the majority, saying the teachers’ lawsuits should not be allowed to go forward.