The exception from Obamacare's contraceptive mandate for religious organizations is fair, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled in a reversal of decisions from two federal judges in Pittsburgh.

The appeals court rejected the argument that had convinced the trial court judges who granted injunctions to two Catholic dioceses and a Christian college, each of which had challenged the route that the government had provided to them to avoid the portion of Obamacare that requires employers to provide health insurance to their employees that includes female contraceptives.

A narrow section of religious employers, such as churches, are exempt from that portion of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. But, there is also an exception to it, called an accommodation, for nonprofit religious organizations that don't fall into the religious employers' category, like Catholic schools and hospitals, so that the employer doesn't have to pay for the contraceptive portion of the insurance coverage, but the coverage itself is offered to female employees separately through the insurance company. In order to qualify for the accommodation, the head of the religious organization must submit a self-certification to notify the insurer that it will be claiming the exception.