Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/680616
ByMarkSherman TheAssociatedPress WASHINGTON The Su- preme Court failed to re- solve a knotty dispute be- tween faith-based groups and the Obama admin- istration over birth con- trol on Monday, the latest indication of the short- handed court's struggle to find a majority for im- portant cases taken up be- fore Justice Antonin Scal- ia's death. The justices asked lower courts to take another look at the issue in a search for a compromise, issuing an unsigned, unanimous opin- ion. The case concerns the administration's arrange- ment for sparing faith- based groups from having to pay for birth control for women covered under their health plans. "The court expresses no view on the merits of the cases," the justices wrote, ending a major confronta- tion over President Barack Obama's health care law ended with a whimper and no resolution. The matter almost certainly will not re- turn to the Supreme Court before the 2016 presidential election, and perhaps not until a new justice is con- firmed to take Scalia's seat, if at all. The outcome suggested the court lacked a majority for such a significant rul- ing, underscoring the effect of Scalia's absence. Already two cases have resulted in 4-4 ties since the conserva- tive's death in February. The lack of a resolu- tion leaves the government able for now to ensure that women covered by faith- based groups' health plans have access to cost-free con- traceptives. But the groups, which include not-for-profit colleges and charities, won't face fines for not adhering to administration proce- dures for objecting to birth control benefits. By complying, they ar- gued they would be com- plicit in making contracep- tives available in violation of their religious beliefs as their insurers or insurance administrators would then assume responsibility for providing birth control. The justices appeared evenly divided on the ques- tion when they heard ar- guments in late March. And the court seemed to acknowledge the division shortly after when it or- dered the two sides to file a new and unusual round of legal briefs in search of a compromise, perhaps by making contraceptive cov- erage available without re- quiring a notice of objec- tion. Eight appeals courts na- tionwide have sided with the administration; four of those were challenged in the case before the Supreme Court. One court has ruled for the groups so far. In 2014, the justices di- vided 5-4 with Scalia in the majority to allow some "closely held" businesses with religious objections to refuse to pay for contracep- tives. That case involved the Hobby Lobby chain of craft stores and other compa- nies that said their rights were being violated under the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Catholic and Protestant colleges, charities and ad- vocacy groups invoked the same law in asking the gov- ernment to find a way that does not involve them or their insurers in birth con- trol provisions. The challengers included Bishop David Zubik, head of the Catholic Diocese in Pittsburgh; the Little Sis- ters of the Poor, nuns who run more than two dozen nursing homes for impov- erished seniors; evangel- ical and Catholic colleges in Oklahoma, Pennsylva- nia, Texas and Washington, D.C.; and the anti-abortion advocacy group Priests for Life. Contraception is among a range of preventive ser- vices that must be pro- vided at no extra charge under the health care law. The administration pointed to research show- ing the high cost of some methods of contraception discourages women from using them. One effective means of birth control, the intrauter- ine device, can cost up to $1,000. Houses of worship and other religious institutions whose primary purpose is to spread the faith are ex- empt from the birth control requirement. Other faith-affiliated groups have to tell the gov- ernment or their insurers if they object, and allow their insurer or third-party ad- ministrator to handle mat- ters related to birth con- trol. Some groups, including Little Sisters of the Poor, contract with church- based insurers, which themselves are exempt from having to provide contraceptives. A ruling for the groups, the administration argues, would disadvantage tens of thousands of women. SUPREME COURT Majorrulinginbirthcontroldisputeavoided ASSOCIATEDPRESSFILEPHOTO Demonstrators react to hearing the Supreme Court's decision on the Hobby Lobby birth control case outside the Supreme Court in Washington on June 30, 2014. By Jennifer Kay The Associated Press MIAMI The mosquitoes that can spread Zika are already buzzing among us. The U.S. government could use some help figuring out exactly where. No experience is neces- sary for what the U.S. De- partment of Agriculture envisions as a nationwide experiment in citizen-sci- ence. Teenagers already have proven themselves up to the task in tryouts involv- ing a small number of high school students and science teachers. Now it's time for the In- vasive Mosquito Project to scale up and fast, since Zika has been linked to serious birth defects and health officials are preparing for the possibility of small out- breaks in the United States. But there's little money in government budgets to track its spread. "We don't have a lot of data — good, solid data," said John-Paul Mutebi, an entomologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. What the USDA is pro- posing is the kind of pop- ulation survey not seen in the continental United States since World War II, when the country eradi- cated mosquito-borne vi- ruses. In a 1945 film , the U.S. government encour- aged schoolkids and scout troops to do their part in keeping their neighbor- hoods free from dengue and yellow fever. Volunteers now are needed to collect mosquito eggs in their communities and upload the data to pop- ulate an online map, which in turn will provide real- time information about hot spots to help research- ers and mosquito control- lers respond. Some local surveys have been revived as dengue fe- ver and other viruses creep back into the country, car- ried in the blood of travelers and transmitted through mosquito bites. But that data hasn't been centralized, and the gaps are clear to CDC research- ers, whose national maps only roughly show the pos- sible spread of two disease- carrying mosquitoes. The CDC's maps are based on historical reports, recent research and surveys sent in February to mos- quito control districts na- tionwide, but evidence re- mains thin for habitat es- timates. They suspect that Aedes aegypti could carry Zika well beyond the South- east during the summer, and the more cold-hardy Asian tiger mosquito could be biting into the Midwest and Northeast. Both species are capable of spreading Zika, but ex- perts have considered the Asian tiger less of a threat for triggering outbreaks than the Aedes aegypti. The Invasive Mosquito Project is coordinated by Kansas-based USDA ento- mologist Lee Cohnstaedt, who has explored crowd- sourcing as a budget-con- scious way to sample mos- quito populations and cites research supporting volun- teers' capabilities for collect- ing large-scale data. Now he's pinning his hopes for consistent data collection on students needing to do their homework, year after year. He's thinking big: Partic- ipation from a fifth of U.S. schools. Adapting lesson plans for middle schools, scout troops and garden- ing clubs. Making mos- quito surveys as common as public bird counts for conservation groups. Turn- ing classroom routines into a life-long habit of mosquito vigilance. Since high school biol- ogy teacher Noah Busch in- corporated the USDA proj- ect into his lesson plans, his students in Manhat- tan, Kansas, have made the connection between news reports about Zika and the mosquito traps they set near tires or backyard swimming pools. "I had more parents afraid of this project than any of my students," said Busch, who teaches proto- cols for avoiding bites. "The parents were thinking we were attracting mosquitoes. No, the mosquitoes are al- ready there." The equipment is noth- ing more than brown pa- per towels and dark-col- ored plastic party cups. Stu- dents insert the paper into the cups, fill the cups two- thirds of the way with water and place the cups around their homes. After about a week, they dry the towels and examine them for eggs, which look like tiny specks of dirt. Classes verify their find- ings with the USDA, local researchers or mosquito control officials before up- loading their results to the project's website, which is part of a new central data- base for all federal citizen science activities. In the past, Cohnstaedt could spend $150 or more a night to send one employee to trap mosquitoes. Crowd- sourcing that effort has "saved a bunch" of money and "collected better data than we could have working alone," he said in an email. The Florida Keys Mos- quito Control District wants the USDA project in three high schools this fall. The narrow island chain shares a national need for early warnings about invasions by Asian tiger mosquitoes or other species, executive director Michael Doyle said. MOSQUITOES Citizen-scientists: Uncle Sam wants you to fight Zika! ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS Student Chloe Colston, 15, labels a cup for mosquito larva collection at her school in Mahanttan, Kansas. The mosquitoes that can spread the disease Zika are already buzzing in places around the United States but the U.S. government could use a little help figuring out exactly where. Aedes Albopictus mosquitoes sit in a secured U.S Department of Agriculture lab in Manhattan, Kansas. The mosquitoes are part of the USDA's high school pilot program that relies on students to set mosquito traps that will help improve official mosquito maps. (530) 529-1220 100 Jackson St. Red Bluff UnlimitedTanning $ 25 .00 only MAY Tanning Special! 750DavidAvenue,RedBluff•527-9193• www.tehamaestatesretirement.com findusonFacebook • Utilities Included (except phone & cable) • Transportation • Fun Activities and Events TehamaEstatesProvides: CallForRentSpecial Tehama Estates The areas #1 Senior Housing Provider Senior Retirement Apartments • 3 Delicious Healthy Meals Each Day • Daily Housekeeping • 24 Hour Staffing, 365 Days of the Year Newpatientsalwayswelcome! 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