Supreme Court case on contraceptives may offer little closure

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court returned Wednesday to the question of whether a regulation requiring many employers to provide free contraception coverage for their workers under the Affordable Care Act violates a federal law protecting religious freedom.

In 2014, Justice Antonin Scalia was part of a 5-4 majority that voted to limit the mandate, and his death last month raises the possibility of a tie vote in the new case that would leave in place conflicting appeals court decisions and a national legal patchwork.

Alito wrote approvingly of the accommodation, which shifts contraceptive costs to others, calling it “an approach that is less restrictive than requiring employers to fund contraceptive methods that violate their religious beliefs.”

Many religious groups around the nation have challenged the accommodation, saying that providing the required information that would allow insurance companies or the government to provide the coverage makes them complicit in conduct that violates their faith.