On the same day that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — aka Obamacare — took effect, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor blocked the mandate to include contraceptive coverage in all health plans. Justice Sotomayor acted on a plea from an order of Catholic nuns in Colorado, whose requests for a stay had been denied by lower courts.
Her order was delivered to Kathleen Sibelius, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which has until Friday, Jan. 3, to respond to the order.