Contraception Mandate Likely Headed To Supreme Court, Experts Say

The Becket Fund is arguing in court that the religious exemption is too narrow because it excludes people like the Christian owners of Hobby Lobby, who morally object to contraception. Reproductive rights groups, including the National Women's Law Center, contend that "religious freedom" should be interpreted to allow women to decide for themselves whether to take contraception, rather than to allow their employers to decide for them.

Judy Waxman, vice president for health and reproductive rights at the National Women's Law Center, said the Supreme Court could take up the contraception mandate as soon as this winter. But she said the court will likely not strike down the entire policy -- it would probably instead decide on some narrow aspect of it.

"Some of these lawsuits are asking for the whole [contraception mandate] to be struck down, but the Supreme Court generally decides issues in the narrowest way that answers the question on the table," she said. "It could mean that they would make some more narrow deicision about whether the religious accommodation works and which group should get it."