By Daniel Wiessner

(Reuters) -A U.S. judge on Wednesday struck down rules adopted during President Donald Trump’s first term that exempt employers with religious or moral objections from having to provide workers with insurance coverage for birth control.

U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone in Philadelphia said the 2018 rules were not justified, rejecting the Trump administration’s claims that they were necessary to protect the rights of religious employers.

The ruling came in a lawsuit by Pennsylvania and New Jersey that reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 2020 upheld the rules on technical grounds but did not address their merits.

The U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Little Sisters of the Poor, a Roman Catholic order of nuns tha

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