ObamaCare Kicks In —but Not for Nuns

Before dropping the ball in Times Square, Sonia Sotomayor dropped yet another problem on ObamaCare, many key provisions of which kick in today. The Supreme Court justice granted a last-minute temporary exemption to a group of Catholic nuns who object to providing contraceptive coverage for employees, reports the Los Angeles Times. The government has been given until Friday to file a response in the case, which applies to the nuns and other Roman Catholic nonprofit groups using the same health plan.

Lawyers for the nuns argued that they would face "draconian fines" if they didn't start complying with the law today. Churches have been exempted from providing contraceptive coverage, but the nuns' suit is among several from religious organizations and private corporations who are also pressing for exemptions, NBC notes. The Justice Department says that to opt out, all the nuns need to do is "certify that they are nonprofit organizations that hold themselves out as religious," though the group representing the nuns says ObamaCare rules still require them to violate their beliefs by dealing with an insurer covering "sterilization, contraceptive and abortion-inducing drugs and devices," the New York Times finds. (More ObamaCare stories.)