WASHINGTON, D.C., June 17, 2021 – The Supreme Court ruled today that the Affordable Care Act will remain unscathed by attempts by Republican officials to topple it. The Court ruled 7–2 that Texas and its other plaintiff states did not have standing to challenge the law’s requirement of obtaining insurance coverage because they could not demonstrate injury. This is no surprise given Congress, under Republican control, reduced the penalty to $0.
In the separate case Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, the Supreme Court ruled against Philadelphia’s requirement that Catholic Social Services abide by its LGBTQ nondiscrimination law as part of its contract as a foster care agency. While narrow, this ruling further expands the ability for people to use their religious beliefs to justify discrimination against LGBTQ people, following on the Supreme Court’s similarly narrow ruling in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case.
Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron issued the following statement:
“We commend the Supreme Court for upholding the Affordable Care Act and protecting the health care of 20 million Americans that hung in the balance. The Affordable Care Act has greatly expanded access to health care across the nation and was particularly critical during the pandemic of the past year. It’s shameful that Justices Gorsuch and Alito were willing to toss out this law and its protections for individuals with preexisting conditions.
In the Fulton case, the Court once again chipped away at LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections. Regrettably, this is yet another decision that allows religious institutions to evade compliance with the law and, in this case, cause harm to LGBTQ people. We should be very concerned that the ability to refuse service to people because of their identity is growing, not shrinking.”