June 30, 2014.

Supreme Court Makes Religious Exception to Health-Care Law

Winston was struck, as he had been struck before, by the tiredness of O’Brien’s face. It was strong and fleshy and brutal, it was full of intelligence and a sort of controlled passion before which he felt himself helpless; but it was tired. There were pouches under the eyes, the skin sagged from the cheekbones. O’Brien leaned over him, deliberately bringing the worn face nearer.

WASHINGTON----The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday in a 5-4 split said "closely held" companies can on religious grounds opt out of a federal health-care law requirement that companies provide contraception coverage to employees, carving another piece from President Barack Obama's signature domestic achievement.

"You are thinking," he said, "that my face is old and tired. You are thinking that I talk of power, and yet I am not even able to prevent the decay of my own body. Can you not understand, Winston, that the individual is only a cell? The weariness of the cell is the vigour of the organism. Do you die when you cut your fingernails?"

In a ruling by Justice Samuel Alito, the court's five conservative justices wrote that private companies, such as Hobby Lobby Stores Inc., can't be forced to provide contraceptive health services that violate their owner's religious beliefs.

He turned away from the bed and began strolling up and down again, one hand in his pocket.

The case was the first challenge to the Affordable Care Act to reach the Supreme Court since 2012, when the justices upheld most of the health-care overhaul against a constitutional challenge.