WRITE OF CENTER
In October 2015 in these pages, I wrote about the sad, disgusting government attack on the Little Sisters of the Poor.
Obama was in office back then. The federal government was insisting that the Little Sisters provide contraception and abortion-inducing drugs as part of their insurance.
Now, 10 years later, the struggle continues; several blue states are repeatedly suing the Little Sisters. Here’s the background and an update.
The Little Sisters serve more than 13,000 elderly poor in 31 countries around the world. The first home opened in America in 1868 and there are now 30 homes in the U.S. At these homes, the elderly and dying are cared for with love and dignity until God calls them home.
The Little Sisters follow the simple approach of Jeanne Jugan; each person who enters the door is welcomed as Christ, cared for as family, and accompanied with dignity until God calls them to Himself.
Why on earth would the federal government sue the Little Sisters? Well, they have this requirement called the Obamacare mandate. Yes, the same Obamacare which passed without a single Republican vote.
It requires employers, including the Little Sisters, to provide health insurance to their employees which includes contraceptives and abortion- inducing drugs and devices. This obviously violates the religious vows of the Little Sisters; of course, they live their lives by those deeply held vows.
The Little Sisters have no money to defend themselves against the federal government’s vast resources. Fortunately, the Becket Fund has provided legal defense for them, beginning with a class action lawsuit in 2012.
In the first legal rulings, a trial court and the Tenth Circuit appeals court both ruled against the Little Sisters. However, on Jan. 24, 2014, the full U.S. Supreme Court granted temporary relief, which protected them while their case continued through the lower courts.
Fortunately, President Trump was elected in 2016. Protecting their religious freedom, he granted an exemption to the Little Sisters. That should have been the end of it.
However, since that time, lower courts with Democrat judges have ruled against the Little Sisters at least twice. A total of 20 states, led by Texas, have filed friendof- the- court briefs in support of the Little Sisters in each case. Kudos to our Republican leaders in Texas who are once again stepping up to defend religious liberty. Most recently, a federal district court judge named Wendy Beetlestone has become a central player in this sordid tale. We should not be surprised. As it turns out, she was an Obama appointee back in 2014; she is based in Philadelphia.
In 2017, she issued a nationwide injunction prohibiting enforcement of regulations that allowed employers to refuse to cover contraception in their insurance plans. After Trump issued revised rules, she issued a second nationwide injunction to strike them down. In 2020, both of her decisions were overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
We the people might assume that the Supreme Court has the final word. But in this case, some states are still not giving up.
The latest federal court challenge to the Little Sisters was made by the state of New Jersey, among others. And sure enough, the case went into Beetlestone’s courtroom. In August, she ruled that the most recent Trump exemption was “arbitrary and capricious.” That decision is now headed for the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and eventually the U.S. Supreme Court.
One lesson to take away from this ridiculous saga — the crucial importance of Supreme Court justices who interpret the law as written, and defend the religious liberties of Americans.
Another lesson is the importance of Republican control of the White House and U.S. Senate; liberal activist judges like Beetlestone would never be appointed by a Republican president nor confirmed in a Republican senate.
And it’s another reminder about the importance of every election. Turnout really matters. Republican voters in Kendall County, be sure to cast your ballot in every election. It shows our county, state and nation that the Hill Country is a strong voice for conservative, traditional values.
In the meantime, say a prayer for the Little Sisters, that they can prevail in their struggle for religious freedom. God bless them, every one.
Scott S. Kramer is former Chairman of the Kendall County Republican Party.
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