A pair of momentous new government decisions on religion\u201d\u201din particular on whether religious institutions are exempt from secular laws\u201d\u201dhas given advocates of religious liberty a severe case of whiplash.<\/p>\n
Early this month, the Supreme Court held (in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) that a Lutheran school’s decision to dismiss a teacher is an internal church issue that cannot be challenged under federal employment laws.<\/p>\n
Just as the decision was beginning to sink in, the federal department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that numerous religious organizations won’t be exempted from ObamaCare’s requirement that employer health-care plans cover all of the costs of contraception. The message to Catholic hospitals and ministries that object to contraception: No accommodation for you.<\/p>\n