The decision comes almost back-to-back after Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor denying a similar injunction to the Hobby Lobby chain stores. Just two days prior to the 7th Circuit order, Sotomayor had denied similar reprieve to the Oklahoma City billionaire, David Green, the owner of Hobby Lobby, on the same grounds.
Cyril and Jane Korte, who practice the Roman Catholic faith, are owners of the construction firm Korte & Luitjohan Contractors. They sought to substitute their current health insurance plan for 20 non-unionized workers with a plan that did not include coverage for contraception.
While issuing the injunction, the 7th Circuit observed that the appellants had established a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits of their claims and that the government was yet to justify the “substantial burden” imposed by the law upon the appellants in the exercise of their religious beliefs. In contrast to Sotomayor's ruling on Wednesday, the 7th Circuit found that the appellants had established irreparable harm, because without an injunction to protect themselves, their choices were limited to only two options – either sacrifice their religious liberties, or face financial penalties.
In dissent against the majority, Judge Ilana Rovner said that the appellants were “multiple steps” removed from the contraceptive services, because it was their company, and not they, who would be paying for the coverage, and because the decision would be between a worker, her doctor, and the insurer that would determine the services and their funding.
The case is Korte et al v. Sebelius, 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 12-3841.
