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ByMarkSherman AssociatedPress WASHINGTON Asharplydi- vided Supreme Court ruled Monday that some compa- nies with religious objec- tions can avoid the con- traceptives requirement in President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, the first time the high court has declared that businesses can hold religious views un- der federal law. The justices' 5-4 decision, splitting conservatives and liberals, means the Obama administration must search for a different way of pro- viding free contraception to women who are covered under the health insurance plans of objecting compa- nies. Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his majority opin- ion, over a dissent from the four liberal justices, that forcing companies to pay for methods of women's contraception to which they object violates the 1993 Re- ligious Freedom Restora- tion Act. He said the rul- ing is limited and there are ways for the administra- tion to ensure women get the birth control they want. But White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the decision creates health risks for women, and he said Congress should take action to make sure they get coverage. "President Obama be- lieves that women should make personal health care decisions for themselves rather than their bosses deciding for them," Ear- nest said. "Today's deci- sion jeopardizes the health of the women who are em- ployed by these companies." Contraception is among a range of preventive ser- vices that must be provided at no extra charge under the health care law that Obama signed in 2010. Two years ago, Chief Justice John Roberts cast the pivotal Supreme Court vote that saved the law in the midst of Obama's cam- paign for re-election. On Monday, Roberts sided with the four justices who would have struck down the law in its entirety, holding in favor of the religious rights of closely held corporations, like the Oklahoma-based Hobby Lobby chain of arts- and-craft stores that chal- lenged the contraceptives provision. Hobby Lobby is among roughly 50 businesses that have sued over covering contraceptives. Some, like the two involved in the Su- preme Court case, are will- ing to cover most methods of contraception, as long as they can exclude drugs or devices that the govern- ment says may work after an egg has been fertilized. But Monday's ruling would apply more broadly to other companies that do not want to pay for any of the 20 birth control meth- ods and devices that have been approved by federal regulators. Alito said the decision is limited to con- traceptives. "Our decision should not be understood to hold that an insurance-cov- erage mandate must neces- sarily fall if it conflicts with an employer's religious be- liefs," he said. He suggested two ways the administration could deal with the birth con- trol issue. The government could simply pay for preg- nancy prevention, he said. Or it could provide the same kind of accommodation it has made available to re- ligious-oriented, not-for- profit corporations. Those groups can tell the government that pro- viding the coverage vio- lates their religious beliefs. At that point, creating a buffer, their insurer or a third-party administrator takes on the responsibility of paying for the birth con- trol. The employer does not have to arrange the cover- age or pay for it. Insur- ers get reimbursed by the government through cred- its against fees owed un- der other provisions of the health care law. That accommodation is the subject of separate legal challenges, and the court said Monday that profit- seeking companies could not assert religious claims in such a situation. Justice Anthony Ken- nedy, who was part of the majority, also wrote sepa- rately to say the administra- tion can solve its problem easily. "The accommoda- tion works by requiring in- surance companies to cover, without cost sharing, con- traception coverage for fe- male employees who wish it," Kennedy said. He said that arrangement "does not impinge on the plaintiffs' religious beliefs." Houses of worship and other religious institutions whose primary purpose is to spread the faith are ex- empt from the requirement to offer birth control. In a dissent she read aloud from the bench, Jus- tice Ruth Bader Ginsburg called the decision "poten- tially sweeping" because it minimizes the govern- ment's interest in uniform compliance with laws af- fecting the workplace. "And it discounts the disadvan- tages religion-based opt- outs impose on others, in particular, employees who do not share their employ- er's religious beliefs," Gins- burg said. Leaders of women's rights groups blasted the decision by "five male jus- tices," in the words of Ce- cile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Ac- tion Fund. The administration said a victory for the companies would prevent women who work for them from making decisions about birth con- trol based on what's best for their health, not whether they can afford it. The government's supporters pointed to research show- ing that nearly one-third of women would change their contraceptive if cost were not an issue; a very effec- tive means of birth control, the intrauterine device, can cost up to $1,000. The contraceptives at is- sue before the court were the emergency contracep- tives Plan B and ella, and two IUDs. A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found 85 percent of large Ameri- can employers already had offered such coverage be- fore the health care law re- quired it. Most working women will probably see no impact from the ruling, corporate health benefits consultants expect. Publicly traded companies are unlikely to inject religion into their employee benefit plans, said Mark Holloway, director of compliance services at the Lockton Companies, an in- surance broker that serves medium-sized and growing employers. "Most employers view health insurance as a tool to attract and retain em- ployees," said Holloway. "Women employees want access to contraceptive cov- erage, and most employers don't have a problem pro- viding that coverage. It is typically not a high-cost item." It is unclear how many women potentially are af- fected by the high court ruling. Hobby Lobby is by far the largest employer of any company that has gone to court to fight the birth control provision. The com- pany has more than 15,000 full-time employees in more than 600 crafts stores in 41 states. CONTRACEPTIVES Court: Religious rights trump birth control rule ASSOCIATEDPRESS Demonstrators embrace as they react to hearing the Supreme Court's decision on the Hobby Lobby case outside the Supreme Court in Washington on Monday. By Julie Pace AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON Seeking to turn around a troubled agency, President Barack Obama will nominate for- mer Procter & Gamble ex- ecutive Robert McDonald to lead a Veterans Affairs department gripped by re- ports of treatment delays and cover-ups. Obama planned to nomi- nate McDonald to the Cab- inet post on Monday, the White House said. If con- firmed by the Senate, the 61-year-old McDonald would succeed Eric Shin- seki, the retired four-star general who resigned last month as the scope of the issues at veterans' hospitals became apparent. McDonald's nomination signals that the president put a premium on man- agement experience as he sought a new VA secretary. McDonald also has a mili- tary background, graduat- ing near the top of his class at the U.S. Military Acad- emy at West Point and serving as a captain in the Army, primarily in the 82nd Airborne Division. "Having somebody that has experience in the mil- itary, has strong biparti- san support for taking the job, and has a proven track record of implementing changes in large organiza- tions to great effect makes him the right choice for this task," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. McDonald resigned abruptly from Procter & Gamble in May 2013 amid pressure from investors concerned that he was not doing enough to boost the company's performance. McDonald, who had spent 33 years at the con- sumer products giant, said at the time of his retire- ment that he believed con- stant speculation about his job status had become too much of a distraction to the company. The VA operates the larg- est integrated health care system in the country, with more than 300,000 full- time employees and nearly 9 million veterans enrolled for care. But the agency has come under intense scru- tiny in recent months amid reports of patients dying while waiting for appoint- ments and of treatment de- lays in VA facilities nation- wide. Obama dispatched one of his top advisers, Rob Nabors, to the VA to help in- vestigate agency issues and appointed Sloan Gibson as acting secretary while awaiting a permanent re- placement. Nabors and Gibson de- livered a scathing report to the president on Friday, cit- ing "significant and chronic system failures" in the na- tion's health system. The re- port also portrayed the Vet- erans Affairs Department as a struggling agency bat- tling a corrosive culture of distrust, lacking in re- sources and ill-prepared to deal with an influx of new and older veterans with a range of medical and men- tal health care needs. McDonald's nomination was praised by his peers in the private sector and mil- itary and got encouraging signs of support from both parties. Jim McNerney, Chair- man and CEO of The Boe- ing Company, called Mc- Donald an "outstanding choice for this critically im- portant position." Retired U.S. Army General Stanley McChystal, who served with McDonald in the 82nd Air- borne, said the nominee's "business acumen, coupled with his dedication and love of our nation's military and veteran community, make him a truly great choice for the tough challenges we have at VA." Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Ber- nie Sanders, I-Vt., said in a statement that he looked forward to meeting with McDonald next week to get his views on issues he views as important. 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