Supreme Court avoids ruling in major birth control dispute

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court failed to resolve a knotty dispute between faith-based groups and the Obama administration over birth control on Monday, the latest indication of the shorthanded court’s struggle to find a majority for important cases taken up before Justice Antonin Scalia’s death.

The justices asked lower courts to take another look at the issue in a search for a compromise, issuing an unsigned, unanimous opinion.

By complying, they argued they would be complicit in making contraceptives available in violation of their religious beliefs as their insurers or insurance administrators would then assume responsibility for providing birth control.