Preliminary Remarks on Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania and on its Impact on Conscientious Objection

“Culture wars” is a term that is increasingly used in the US political and legal framework to refer to the growing polarization of competing narratives on a highly controversial issue: new conscience claims for religious exemptions to generally applicable laws. The recent US Supreme Court judgment, Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania (the third Supreme Court decision about the contraceptive mandate) represents a crucial triumph for conservative forces, as it held that all employers can enjoy an exemption, for religious or moral reasons, from insurance coverage for contraceptive services. The present paper aims to analyze the growing tension, in the complex US legal framework, between the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and to investigate possible future legal trajectories.