Justices sound ready to reject contraceptives mandate under Obamacare

The L.A. Times reports:

The Supreme Court’s conservative justices sharply criticized part of President Obama’s healthcare law Tuesday, suggesting they will rule later this year that requiring Christian-owned corporations to offer their employees contraceptives coverage violates the freedom of religion.

“Your reasoning would permit requiring profit-making corporations to pay for abortions,” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy told U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, who defended the contraceptives provision of the Affordable Care Act.

The administration’s lawyer warned that the court would be adopting a “dangerous principle” if it gave employers a right to exempt themselves from federal laws based on their religious beliefs.

But Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. countered that Congress had passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in 1993 to require special exemptions based on religion.

Will "liberty of contract" ever make a comeback?