The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago has ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in cases of Korte v. Sebelius, 12-3841, and Grote v. Sebelius, 13-1077. These two cases, brought by Catholic business owners, argued against the HHS mandate which forces businesses to pay for birth control/sterilization/abortion. Orders by lower courts have been blocked by the Court of appeals, and the finding written by Judge Diane Sykes, supports both the business owners’ AND the corporations’ option to sue over the HHS mandate.
The cases are returned to trial courts with instructions to block enforcement of the HHS mandate of the 2010 Obamacare act. The 2-1 decision reversed those of the lower courts against the Catholic families and their businesses. Edward White, the lawyer representing Cyril B. Korte says that he expects the Supreme Court to eventually take up this case due to its importance as a national issue “to the people who run these small companies and are dictated by their faith in how they should run the company.”