July 8, 2020 — The Little Sisters of the Poor, a Catholic order of nuns who care for the poor and elderly, are finally free to live and work in accordance with their faith!
For the better part of a decade, Little Sisters faced the possibility of being forced to provide abortion-inducing drugs through their health care plans, or else suffer ruinous penalties. But today, after their third trip to the U.S. Supreme Court, these Catholic nuns are free to continue their service to the poor and elderly without facing the possibility of being bankrupted by millions of dollars in fines.
It's about time!
Justice Clarence Thomas authored the Court's 7-2 decision, in which he wrote these words about the Little Sisters and their plight: "For over 150 years, the Little Sisters have engaged in faithful service and sacrifice, motivated by a religious calling to surrender all for the sake of their brother. . . . But for the past seven years, they—like many other religious objectors who have participated in the litigation and rulemakings leading up to today's decision—have had to fight for the ability to continue in their noble work without violating their sincerely held religious beliefs."
How does this happen in America? If the Little Sisters of the Poor don't have religious freedom, who does?! People of faith are not second-class citizens and government officials should not treat them as such. It is unconscionable that the Little Sisters had to devote years to defending their religious liberty. We at the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute understand all too well the battle that they faced. In 2014, we filed our own lawsuit against the Obama administration's abortifacient mandate, knowing that a defeat in the courts would likely spell the end of our ministry. By God's grace, we prevailed. Today we celebrate this long overdue victory for Little Sisters of the Poor and other employers who are unwilling to participate in the destruction of innocent life.
This is not the end. The radical left will continue their efforts to impose a culture of death upon every organization and individual in this country. The Supreme Court's ruling is a welcome bulwark against the onslaught, but we must stay vigilant and continue to proclaim the truth about the sanctity of every human life.
