It would have been so easy to permit a religious exemptions from Obamacare coverage requirements that are contrary to the religious values of employers and institutions. Think of the litigation and societal conflict that could have been avoided.

But that’s not how this administration rolls. Foregoing coercion would be to give up powerful leverage in the Obamacarian drive to use healthcare as a pretext for imposing its moral views on all of society.

Why else would the administration try and force Catholic facilities, like Notre Dame University, to cover contraception when birth control is directly contrary to Catholic religious dogma?

A lower court had ruled against Notre Dame. But in the wake of the Hobby Lobby victory, the Supreme Court has instructed the Court of Appeals to revisit the issue. From the Reuters story:

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday revived the University of Notre Dame’s religious objections to the requirement for contraception coverage under President Barack Obama’s healthcare law, throwing out a lower court decision in favor of the federal government. The justices asked the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its decision against the South Bend, Indiana-based Roman Catholic university in light of the June 2014 Supreme Court ruling that allowed certain privately owned corporations to seek exemptions from the provision.
The case is part of national litigation concerning religious objections to the contraception provision of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, known widely as Obamacare.

Good. It would be bizarre if private businesses had an opt-out from religiously offensive mandates, but not explicitly religiously-based organizations.

These cases are very important, not only in their own right, but because they are stalking horses for abortion and assisted suicide.