The Obama administration on Friday called on Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to lift her order temporarily blocking a part of the president's signature health care law that requires some religious-affiliated organizations to cover forms of contraception in their health care plans.
The Justice Department said in court papers filed Friday that the challenge to the contraceptive requirement, filed by the Catholic nuns of the Little Sisters of the Poor for the Aged, did not impose a "substantial burden" and the Denver-based nuns "fail to satisfy the demanding standard for the extraordinary and rarely granted relief they seek.''
Sotomayor's ruling on Tuesday came at the request of the Little Sisters, but more than 90 legal challenges have been filed over the contraceptive requirement.
The justice's decision to delay the contraceptive portion of the law was joined by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which also issued an emergency stay for Catholic-affiliated groups challenging the contraceptive provision.
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