Nuns Back In Court To Defend Contraceptive Mandate Exemption
PHILADELPHIA — The Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home was back in court Tuesday defending its federally approved exemption to the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate in a case dating to 2013 and involving three Supreme Court victories.
The ministry to low income, elderly residents in Pittsburgh last won its case before the U.S. Supreme Court in July 2020, when the justices said the Department of Health and Human Services acted lawfully when it granted exemptions to the contraceptive mandate to employers with religious and conscientious objections, including Little Sisters of the Poor.
The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission has supported Little Sisters of the Poor’s plight, most recently joining an amicus brief filed in support of the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court battle. The Catholic charity’s fight also coincides with a victory won by the Southern Baptist entity GuideStone Financial Services, which cemented its win in 2018 to gain a religious exemption to the contraceptive mandate, after an earlier loss.
But the nuns found themselves back in court when Pennsylvania and New Jersey revived in 2025 their lawsuits against the U.S. government and the Little Sisters of the Poor on a narrow point of the law the states’ attorneys claim the U.S. Supreme Court did not address. This time, the states contend that the federal government did not act with “reasoned decision-making” in granting a religious exemption under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and an exemption based on moral beliefs.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania agreed with the states and granted a summary judgment blocking the exemptions, and the Little Sisters of the Poor joined the federal government in appealing to the Third District Court of Appeals in December 2025.
“For 15 years, government officials have stepped into the ring with the Little Sisters and gotten pummeled every time,” Mark Rienzi, president of Becket and lead attorney for the Little Sisters, said in a press release after the July 7 court arguments. “You’d think Pennsylvania and New Jersey would know better by now, but some bureaucrats are just gluttons for punishment.
“We’re confident the court will deliver yet another victory protecting the Little Sisters’ ministry to the most vulnerable.”
The Little Sisters remain resolute in defending their convictions, the group’s leader said in the Becket press release.
“This is our God-given mission,” Mother Loraine Marie Maguire said. “For nearly 200 years we have welcomed the elderly poor and dying into our homes, and with the population of seniors rapidly growing we cannot allow a government lawsuit to stop us from carrying out our mission. Pennsylvania and New Jersey can keep fighting if they want. All we want is to keep serving.”
Becket expects a ruling in the case this year.
In addition to a 2020 Supreme Court victory, the Little Sisters previously prevailed at the high court with a 2013 emergency injunction granting an exemption to the mandate, and in 2014 when SCOTUS issued an injunction protecting the nuns while their case worked its way through the courts, making it to the high court in 2020.
In the meantime, HHS in 2017 issued religious nonprofits an exemption to the contraceptive mandate.
This article was originally published by Baptist Press.
Diana Chandler is Baptist Press’ senior writer.