It is a setback for women's rights. The United States Supreme Court on Wednesday approved a reform of the government of Donald Trump which limits the reimbursement of contraceptive costs for employees in the name of defending the religious values of their employers. And the president of the body has announced that Thursday will be the last day of the 2019-2020 session. This means that we will be fixed on the long-awaited decision on the finances of Donald Trump, who has always refused to publish his tax returns.
The first decision concerned one of the flagship measures of the health insurance law of former Democratic President Barack Obama, "Obamacare", which obliged employers to cover the means of contraception of their employees in their mutuals. But Donald Trump has granted them a wide waiver that deprives between 70,000 and 126,000 women of reimbursement.
Courts had prevented the implementation of this reform which was finally validated by the High Court. "We judge that the administration had the authority to offer these exemptions", can be read in its decision taken by a large majority (seven judges out of nine).
Trump wins two after setbacks
The highest court also held, in a separate case, that teachers of denominational schools were not protected by anti-discrimination mechanisms. She invoked the constitutional principle of separation of Church and State to deny teachers of denominational schools the protection of anti-discrimination laws. For her, they fulfill “pastoral” missions in the same way as priests or pastors, and churches must be able to choose them freely.
These two judgments represent small compensation for the Republican president and his conservative supporters after a series of snubs in files at the heart of their concerns: the rights of sexual minorities, young undocumented immigrants and the right to abortion.
Trump's tax returns ruled Thursday
The Supreme Court kept its two most scrutinized decisions for Thursday, which concern the finances of the American president. On the one hand, the elected Democrats of Congress asked for a series of financial documents from his ex-accounting firm Mazars, but also from the banks Deutsche Bank and Capital One. They seek to shed light on possible links between Donald Trump and Russia. On the other hand, the Manhattan prosecution requested eight years (2011 to 2018) of Donald Trump's tax returns. He made the request as part of an investigation into a payment to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels to buy his silence on an alleged affair with the billionaire. This payment, made during the 2016 campaign, may have violated election campaign finance laws.
Donald Trump, however, has always refused to disclose his tax returns, claiming that an audit was underway. His attorneys advanced the theory of absolute immunity that they believed the American president would enjoy during his tenure. It remains to be seen whether the Supreme Court will find them right.
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