The Supreme Court justice also instructed the government to respond by 10am Friday to arguments submitted against the mandate’s enforcement.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued an order late Dec. 31, temporarily halting enforcement of the contraceptive mandate against the Denver-based Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged only hours before the Affordable Care Act began to take effect.

Sotomayor instructed the administration to respond by 10am Friday to her order. Several Catholic organizations, including the Archdiocese of Washington, the Diocese of Nashville, Tenn., The Catholic University of America and the Michigan Catholic Conference, previously submitted a request that the mandate be blocked until their arguments against it were heard, Fox News reported.

On Jan. 1, lawyer Noel Francisco stated on behalf of the Catholic groups, “A regulatory mandate will expose numerous Catholic organizations to draconian fines unless they abandon their religious convictions and take actions that facilitate access to abortion-inducing drugs, contraceptives and sterilization for their employees and students.”