Justice Sotomayor issues temporary stay blocking contraception mandate

BREAKING: J. Sotomayor grants temporary stay blocking enforcement of HHS contraception mandate agst one set of religious groups.

— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) January 1, 2014

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Tuesday issued a temporary stay blocking the Obamacare contraception mandate at the request of the Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged. The Associated Press reports:

Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s decision came Tuesday night after a different effort by Catholic-affiliated groups from around the nation. Those groups rushed to the federal courts to stop Wednesday’s start of portions of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Sotomayor acted on a request from an order of Catholic nuns in Colorado, whose request for a stay had been denied by the lower courts.

Scotus temporarily halts birth control mandate for Catholic charity. Sotomayor issued the stay before joining Seacrest and Miley for NYE.

— Stephanie Goggans (@StephGoggans) January 1, 2014

Greg Lipper is a litigator at Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

… at which point J Sotomayor will revisit the stay request.

— Greg Lipper (@theglipper) January 1, 2014

@onesarahjones There are separate requests to Robert/Kagan by other groups. So full court will prob consider these.

— Greg Lipper (@theglipper) January 1, 2014

Also, because there are separate stay requests in to Roberts, Kagan, the full Court may end up considering all of the stay requests.

— Greg Lipper (@theglipper) January 1, 2014

In other words, it is very much a temporary stay. Still, some felt betrayed by Sotomayor.

Ending 2013 with the #SCOTUS birth control mandate is almost fitting, unfortunately, in this perilous year for reproductive rights.

— Drew Stanley (@nameverb) January 1, 2014

@nameverb Did I read correctly that Sotomayor voted FOR the stay?

— John Abramowitz (@onthebird) January 1, 2014

Irin Carmon, a reporter with MSNBC digital and Gosnell coverup denier, tweeted and quickly deleted her own Shakespearean criticism of Sotomayor.