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The Obama administration took steps Friday it said would ensure that women who work for religious employers will have continued access to cost-free birth control coverage, while respecting the views of their employers.

The rules address both religious nonprofits and 鈥渃losely held鈥� for-profit corporations whose owners have moral objections to some or all forms of birth control. 聽聽

The first rule applies to nonprofits and sets up a new pathway for employers to provide notice of their religious objection. Now, effective immediately, eligible organizations may notify the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) directly of their objections, and HHS and the Department of Labor will then notify insurers and third-party administrators to allow the insured to receive separate coverage of contraceptive services. Such services would be provided at no additional cost to enrollees or employers.

Examples of such nonprofits include Catholic and other religious universities, hospitals, and charities.

In the second move, HHS is soliciting comments on how to extend the same accommodation to certain 鈥渃losely held鈥� for-profit corporations. In June, the US Supreme Court ruled that the administration could not impose the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act on the owners of closely held companies such as Hobby Lobby, a chain of arts-and-crafts stores. The administration is still working out the definition of 鈥渃losely held for-profit company.鈥�

鈥淲omen across the country deserve access to recommended preventive services that are important to their health, no matter where they work,鈥� HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell said, in a statement. 鈥淭oday鈥檚 announcement reinforces our commitment to providing women with access to coverage for contraception, while respecting religious considerations raised by nonprofit organizations and closely held for-profit companies.鈥�

The birth control mandate in Obamacare has spawned dozens of lawsuits, on the grounds that it is an unconstitutional infringement of religious freedom.

Advocates for religious employers said they would review the new rules before issuing an assessment. But the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops expressed 鈥渄isappointment鈥� in the rules.

鈥淥n initial review of the government鈥檚 summary of the regulations, we note with disappointment that the regulations would not broaden the 鈥榬eligious employer鈥� exemption to encompass all employers with sincerely held religious objections to the mandate,鈥� said Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., president of the bishops conference, in a statement.

Instead, he said, the regulations would only modify the 鈥渁ccommodation,鈥� under which the mandate still applies.

鈥淎lso, by proposing to extend the 鈥榓ccommodation鈥� to the closely held for-profit employers that were wholly exempted by the Supreme Court鈥檚 recent decision in Hobby Lobby, the proposed regulations would effectively reduce, rather than expand, the scope of religious freedom,鈥� Archbishop Kurtz said.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represents numerous organizations challenging the birth control mandate, issued a preliminary response.

鈥淭his is [the] latest step in the administration鈥檚聽long retreat on the HHS mandate,鈥� said Lori Windham, senior counsel for the Becket Fund, which is based in Washington. 鈥淚t is聽the eighth time in three years聽the government has retreated from its original,聽hard-line聽stance that only 鈥榟ouses of worship鈥� that hire and serve fellow believers deserve religious freedom.鈥�

Two months ago, the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that closely held for-profit companies like Hobby Lobby cannot be forced to provide their employees with birth control that violates their religious beliefs. Hobby Lobby, a family-owned corporation, objected to two forms of morning-after pill and two forms of intrauterine device, saying they could cause early abortions.

Soon thereafter, the Supreme Court sided with Wheaton College, an evangelical school in Illinois, over its objection to the Obama administration鈥檚 accommodation for religious nonprofits that object to the birth control mandate. Such nonprofits have the option of signing a form that authorizes their insurer to provide contraception. The federal government then reimburses the insurer.

Wheaton and other religious groups say that signing the form makes them complicit in the provision of contraception that violates their beliefs.聽