Currently 82 lawsuits have been filed against the federal government to stop the application of the contraceptives/abortifacients mandate to religious nonprofits and religious businesses. Or are there more already since I last checked the indispensable record maintained by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty?

Among many noteworthy developments:

* The US Supreme Court is deciding whether to take one or more of the for-profit cases.

* The US Conference of Catholic Bishops, during their annual fall gathering, issued a “special message” reiterating the Church’s rejection of the mandate, the “accommodation” for nonprofit religious organizations, the lack of any protection for businesses, and the entire “false architecture of religious liberty” created by the mandate. The statement points out that the Church’s Gospel duty is not limited to worship and evangelism but encompasses acts of mercy performed by hospitals, charities, and schools-which ought to receive the same religious freedom protection as do churches themselves.

* GuideStone, the Southern Baptist Convention’s administrator of health insurance and financial benefits, has filed its first lawsuit against the federal government, charging that the contraceptives mandate violates its religious freedom and that of the Southern Baptist organizations it serves.