The Supreme Court has declined to rule on a major case involving access to birth control under President Obama’s signature healthcare law. The Obama administration has already exempted churches and other houses of worship from a rule requiring employer health plans to provide birth control coverage to employees without a copay. Religiously affiliated nonprofits simply need to notify the health insurer or the government that they object to providing birth control coverage, at which point the government takes over and they have no further role. But a number of nonprofits argue the notification process itself violates their religious freedom. The Supreme Court has been left with just eight justices following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia and Republican efforts to block Obama’s nominee. On Monday, the court handed the birth control cases back to lower courts, instructing them to find an approach that accommodates religious freedom while ensuring employees of the nonprofits have equal access to birth control.