Nuns vs. The Federal Government
The Little Sisters of the Poor are a Catholic religious order founded in 1839. Their mission is simple: care for the elderly poor. They run homes across the world where they serve people who have nowhere else to go. They take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. They own almost nothing. They ask for nothing.
In 2013, the federal government told them they had to include contraceptive coverage in their employee health plans under the Affordable Care Act's HHS mandate. The Little Sisters said they couldn't do that. It violated their religious convictions. The government said it didn't matter.
And so began one of the most unlikely legal fights in American history: a group of nuns who take care of dying people versus the full weight of the United States federal government.
Seven Years of Legal Battle
The case went through lower courts, circuit courts, and all the way to the Supreme Court. Twice. The government argued that the nuns could simply sign a form authorizing a third party to provide the coverage, but the Sisters said even that act of authorization made them complicit in something they believed was morally wrong.
Critics mocked them. Legal commentators said they were being unreasonable. Late-night hosts made jokes. Throughout it all, the Sisters kept doing what they'd always done: feeding the elderly, bathing the sick, sitting with the dying.
Sister Loraine Marie Maguire, the mother provincial, said it simply: "We just want to continue our mission of serving the elderly poor without being forced to violate our faith."
7-2
On July 8, 2020, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania that the federal government had the authority to grant religious exemptions from the contraceptive mandate, and that the Little Sisters were protected. Seven years of legal threats, millions in legal costs borne by supporters, and a nation watching nuns refuse to blink.
They went back to their homes. They kept serving.
What This Means for You
There's something beautifully absurd about this story. Nuns. Nuns who care for dying people with almost no resources. And they went toe-to-toe with the federal government for seven years and won. Not with money. Not with political power. With conviction. If the Little Sisters can stand their ground against the most powerful government on earth, you can probably stand yours in whatever smaller arena is testing you right now. The principle is the same: some things aren't up for negotiation, no matter who's asking.