Religious groups fighting insurance abortion mandate win at Supreme Court
Justices send dispute back to New York court for further review
Catholic dioceses and other religious organizations fighting a New York state mandate that the health insurance they provide employees include abortion coverage have won a preliminary victory in the U.S. Supreme Court.
In a brief, unsigned order issued Monday, the Supreme Court vacated a ruling by the New York Court of Appeals upholding the abortion coverage mandate and asked it to reconsider its decision in light of the high court’s recent ruling in Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor & Industry Review Commission.
Monday’s ruling is not a guarantee that the dispute over the New York requirement will ultimately be resolved in favor of the religious groups. But the Catholic Charities Bureau case and the New York case, Diocese of Albany v. Harris, involve nearly identical issues, making it appear likely that that the New York mandate will ultimately be invalidated.
Basically, both Catholic Charities Bureau and Diocese of Albany relate to when a state provides religious entities an exception to legal requirements whether it can limit the exception to only certain religious entities. In Catholic Charities Bureau, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which had ruled that a religious exemption applied only the religious activity involved included traditional religious actions such as worship and proselytizing. In the New York case, the exemption was available only to those religious entities that serve those of the same religious persuasion and had the purpose of inculcating religious values. In both cases, the entities challenging state requirements provide services to people regardless of their religious beliefs.
The Catholic Charities Bureau case was decided unanimously, having the effect of showing that both the conservative and liberal wings of the Supreme Court agree that government should not be in the business of what types of activities should be considered religious when they are done out of religious motives. Monday’s order, which consisted of only two sentences, gave no indication of dissent within the court.
The decision was made in a somewhat unusual fashion. Typically, the high court either agrees to hear or agrees not to hear appeals from lower courts. If it decides to hear the case, then typically oral arguments are scheduled and both sides in the dispute are asked to submit legal briefs. If it decides not to hear the case, the lower court’s decision resolves the legal dispute. In Diocese of Albany, the court decided not to hear the case while also sending it back to the lower-level court for a new ruling.
The legal dispute over New York’s mandate began in 2017 when it was first promulgated. The religious groups lost in New York courts and appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court for the first time in 2021. That time, the Supreme Court asked New York courts to reconsider in light of the top court’s ruling in Fulton v. Philadelphia, a case involving involving Catholic Social Services’ providing of foster care. But the religious groups lost a second time in New York courts, prompting the recent appeal.
Plaintiffs in Diocese of Albany include three Catholic dioceses; the Sisterhood of St. Mary; the St. Gregory the Great Roman Catholic Church Society; First Bible Baptist Church; Our Savior’s Lutheran Church of Albany, N.Y.; and operators of certain nursing homes.