A significant number of Catholic (as well as Protestant) businesses and religious nonprofit organizations have sued the federal government to get relief from the mandate that their health plans must cover, or trigger coverage of, all FDA-approved contraceptive drugs, devices, and surgery, including those that have an abortifacient effect. The Becket Fund’s HHS Mandate Information Central currently counts 100 cases–with the victories overwhelmingly on the side of the religious nonprofits and businesses. These are important victories, and yet most of them are on the retail level: one or two or a half-dozen organizations at a time winning relief.

There have been a few “wholesale” victories. The largest one until recently was the preliminary injunction won by Guidestone, a Southern Baptist benefits management company, which provides health insurance to nearly 200 evangelical organizations. In one court victory, all of Guidestone’s member employers were given protection from the mandate.

On June 4th, an even larger set of religious employers won relief from the contraceptives mandate. The recently organized Catholic Benefits Association won a preliminary injunction against the mandate, protecting more than 450 Catholic nonprofits, businesses, and church organizations.