While the Obama Administration attempts to sort out difficulties with the healthcare.gov website and Congress holds hearings on the subject, another cases challenging an employer-related portion of the Affordable Care Act is a step closer to the U.S. Supreme Court.

On October 31, the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the provision mandating that all health insurance plans must provide free-of-charge contraceptive coverage could violate the First Amendment religious freedom of owners of small businesses.

In the case of Gilardi v. U.S. Department of Health  & Human Services, the two brothers who own Freshway Foods and Freshway Logistics sued, claiming that the contraception insurance mandate violated tenets of their Roman Catholic religion. The appellate court ruled that because the two companies are small — “closely held” corporations — the two brothers have standing to challenge the constitutionality of the mandate. The court also stated that because the brothers were likely to win their case, the U.S. government was prohibited from enforcing the mandate until a final decision on their lawsuit is issued.

this is now the fourth challenge to the contraceptive mandate to clear the appellate courts. Two other courts have upheld the provision, while one has struck it down.

The Supreme Court could agree to consider one of the cases as early as later this term, with a certiorari decision possibly coming before the end of the year.