Church-State Law

The separation of church and state has come under scrutiny again after the Supreme Court sided with religious conservatives in several rulings.

Sizable majorities of adults in six European countries with a mandatory tax say they pay it and few say they are likely to opt out.

Two-thirds of Americans say doctors should be allowed by law to assist patients who are terminally ill and living in severe pain to commit suicide.

The Obama administration has issued its final regulations governing how the Affordable Care Act’s mandate to provide contraception coverage applies to religiously affiliated nonprofits and businesses. But the announcement has done little to quell the objections of some religious groups. As the debate over the mandate continues, here are five questions and answers about the controversy.

A new Indiana religious freedom law has sparked national debate. Some say it strengthens protection of religious liberty, while others say it could provide legal cover for businesses to discriminate. The U.S. public is divided over these types of issues.

It has happened in four states so far, and may well happen in others – a kind of marital limbo where licenses have been granted and vows exchanged, but the marriages themselves have not been officially recognized.

The U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing for-profit businesses to opt out of the contraceptive mandate in the new health care law has raised questions about what the ruling might mean for businesses, for future challenges to the contraception mandate, and even for the future of church-state law. We posed these questions to Robert Tuttle, one of the nation’s experts on church-state issues. He is the Berz Research Professor of Law and Religion at the George Washington University.

Even though the two cases heard by the Supreme Court involve for-profit businesses, the rulings in Hobby Lobby and Conestoga on the contraceptive requirement could impact subsequent cases involving nonprofits like Little Sisters of the Poor.

On March 25, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in two cases challenging regulations arising from the Affordable Care Act. Both cases involve for-profit businesses whose owners object - for religious reasons - to free coverage of contraceptive services in their employees’ health insurance plans.

The U.S. Supreme Court will revisit the issue of legislative prayer when it hears oral arguments on Nov. 6 in Town of Greece v. Galloway, a case involving a challenge to a municipality’s practice of beginning each town board meeting with an invocation.