The High Court Gets Religion

The Wall Street Journal, November 9, 2015

“The narrow issue here is the birth-control mandate,” says Becket Fund President William Mumma. “The larger issue is that religious liberty is not some subcategory of liberty. It’s a bellwether, because a government that doesn’t respect a citizen’s liberty to worship God the way he sees fit is not likely to respect other liberties.”

“If you want to understand what’s going on, don’t look at the Republican Party,” says Mr. Mumma. “Look at our amicus briefs.” By this he means the diversity of the groups that have submitted defenses of the Little Sisters. These range from 20 state governments and the libertarian Cato Institute to Jewish rabbis and the leading seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention.

“The administration objected because it knows that the Little Sisters clarify the stakes,” he says. “Because if the government is willing to put its boot on the neck of an order of nuns, who’s safe?”