The U.S. Supreme Court ordered that the New York Court of Appeals reevaluate a case in which religious groups are challenging a New York law forcing employers to offer abortion coverage in health insurance plans.

Baptist and Lutheran churches and Catholic dioceses and ministries sued New York for its 2017 mandate requiring health insurance plans offered to employees to include abortion coverage in certain circumstances such as rape, incest and medical emergencies.

On behalf of the religious groups, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and the Jones Day law firm filed suit, claiming the mandate violated the First Amendment. The suit argues that the mandate severely restricts access to religious exemptions since a group can only qualify for such exemptions if it primarily teaches religion and serves and hires those of the same faith.

To comply with the law, ministries such as Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm and their Teresian Nursing Home, which serves elderly and dying individuals who are Catholic and non-Catholic, would be forced to focus on providing religious instruction rather than aiding in physical needs, and only hire and serve Roman Catholics.

After losing the state court, the religious groups asked the Supreme Court in 2021 to hear the case, Diocese of Albany v. Harris. The Supreme Court heard the case and asked the state courts to reexamine the case again. However, the New York Court of Appeals again sided with New York’s mandate.

So in September 2024, Becket and Jones Day appealed on behalf of the churches and religious organizations to the Supreme Court again, with this week’s decision as the result.

The Supreme Court has again asked the state’s Court of Appeals to rehear the case, taking into consideration Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor & Industry Review Commission, in which the Supreme Court ruled that a Catholic charity in Wisconsin is qualified to gain a tax exemption without being required to serve only Catholics.

Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision.

“For the second time in four years, the Supreme Court has made clear that bully tactics like these have no place in our nation or our law,” Baxter said in a press release. “We are confident that these religious groups will finally be able to care for the most vulnerable consistent with their beliefs.”

Noel J. Francisco, Jones Day’s partner-in-charge of its Washington office, also applauded the win for religious liberty.

“Religious groups in the Empire State should not be forced to provide insurance coverage that violates their deeply held religious beliefs,” said Francisco. “We are confident that New York will finally get the message and stop discriminating against religious objectors.”

Photo: Alamy