Civil Liberties

Supreme Court Denies Injunction in Contraception Case

Will not get involved in birth control coverage rules until lower courts have ruled

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The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday denied Hobby Lobby's request for an emergency injunction to block the health reform law's contraceptive coverage requirements and said it will not decide the case before lower courts have ruled.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the store owner doesn't meet the extremely high standards required for a preliminary injunction. It's not "absolutely" clear that they need the injunction and lower courts have been divided on whether to grant similar requests, she wrote, though she adds that the court doesn't have much experience with similar religious-based claims for emergency injunctions.