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Another HUGE win for religious liberties from the Supreme Court was announced earlier this morning.

In a 7-2 decision, the Court upheld that employers who had religious or moral objections to the Obamacare birth control mandate were, in fact, entitled to exemption from that rule.

This was a case involving the Little Sisters of the Poor, which is a Catholic ministry that serves the elderly poor. That organization has a religious objection the Obamacare contraceptive mandate that requires birth control to be covered by some employer-provided healthcare plans.

*** Friends, this case isn’t really about birth control. Instead it’s about whether the government can compel citizens to do something contrary to their religious or moral beliefs.

When you read today’s ruling, we’re reminded that YES, the government CAN! But to do so, it must first demonstrate a “compelling interest” that pertains to “only the gravest abuses” or “paramount interest.”

That’s the MINIMUM standard the government must meet to place a barrier on our religious liberties. And that flat-out didn’t happen here.

Using this case as an example, for the government to force Little Sisters of the Poor to provide contraceptive coverage against its religious beliefs, “the Government would have to show that it would commit one of ‘the gravest abuses’ of its responsibilities if it did NOT furnish free contraceptives to all women,” Judge Alito wrote.

But the government didn’t come close to demonstrating that! There wasn’t even a contraceptive mandate in the Obamacare law. That came later, during a rule-making process.

If birth control subsidized by someone else was of such “paramount interest” to our nation, then why didn’t Obamacare provide coverage for ALL women? Why didn’t it make provisions for women who don’t receive a paycheck? Or those who are in-between jobs? Or those who are employed at companies that aren’t required to provide health insurance (e.g. less than 50 employees)? Why did it leave it to employers to subsidize, instead of taxpayers?

These are all rhetorical questions to prove that while the contraceptive mandate may be legal, it is not of such “paramount interest” that even the Little Women of the Poor shouldn’t be entitled to an exemption on religious grounds.

Thankfully, seven of the nine Supreme Court justices recognized that, and used this case as an opportunity to remind us that government must meet a VERY high threshold before infringing upon religious liberties.

That’s a good thing, regardless of your religion.