The following appeared in a Los Angeles Times editorial:
The Little Sisters of the Poor, an organization of Roman Catholic nuns that runs nursing homes around the country, is testing the contraceptive coverage mandate of the Affordable Care Act.
Under the law, most employers are required to provide their employees with health insurance that covers birth control. But the Obama administration agreed to a compromise for nonprofit religious groups that object to contraception, exempting them from paying for such coverage; insurers agreed to absorb the cost.
All the religious organization has to do is fill out a simple form attesting to its situation. Even that was too much for the Little Sisters, and the nuns won a temporary reprieve from Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
The group's objection to filling out the form is hard to fathom, as is Ms. Sotomayor's decision to block the requirement until the case can be considered on its merits. The case hangs on the absurd argument that filling out the form represents a "substantial burden." The form couldn't be easier or shorter; it takes five minutes to fill out and sign.
The nuns also argue the form, which allows the coverage through a third party, would be encouraging someone else to sin. That's not true in this case, because the Little Sisters offers health coverage through a religious insurer that is exempt. Even if the nuns sign the form, employees still won't receive the coverage.
Either way, we still wouldn't buy the argument.
A disconcerting possibility is religiously affiliated nonprofits might circumvent the mandate by expanding the role of nonprofit religious insurers. That would be an extreme measure to avoid allowing employees to make their own decisions.
In the meantime, the stay should be lifted immediately.