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CNA Staff, Jun 16, 2025 / 14:19 pm (CNA).
The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered the New York Court of Appeals to revisit Diocese of Albany v. Harris, a case challenging a 2017 New York state mandate requiring employers to cover abortions in health insurance plans.
The order follows the court's unanimous ruling on June 5 in Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission, which upheld First Amendment protections for religious organizations.
A coalition of religious groups, including the Dioceses of Albany and Ogdensburg, the Sisterhood of St. Mary (Anglican/Episcopal nuns), First Bible Baptist Church, and Catholic Charities, sued New York state in 2017, arguing the mandate forces them to violate their belief in the sanctity of life by forcing them to fund abortions.
In 2017, the New York State Department of Financial Services mandated that employer health plans cover "medically necessary" abortions. Initially, the state proposed exempting employers with religious objections, but abortion activists pressured the state for a narrower exemption that would apply only to religious groups that primarily teach religion and serve or employ only those of their own faith.
This excluded many faith-based ministries that serve all people regardless of religious affiliation like the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm who run Teresian Nursing Home for all elderly and dying, and Catholic Charities, which offers adoption and maternity services.
Without relief, the groups face millions in fines or will have to eliminate employee health plans.
In 2017, represented by religious liberty law group Becket and law firm Jones Day, the coalition challenged New York's mandate. After state courts upheld it, the Supreme Court in 2021 reversed those rulings, citing Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, a Becket victory protecting Catholic foster care agencies.
However, New York's Court of Appeals reaffirmed the mandate in May 2024, claiming Fulton was inapplicable and ignoring the Supreme Court's ruling. At the time, Dennis Poust of the New York State Catholic Conference called the mandate "unconstitutional and unjust." Becket and Jones Day appealed again on Sept. 17, 2024.
In the Catholic Charities ruling in early June, the Supreme Court rejected Wisconsin's denial of a tax exemption to Catholic Charities for serving all without proselytizing, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor calling it a "textbook" First Amendment violation of the free exercise and establishment clauses, as it favored certain religious practices over others.
"New York wants to browbeat nuns into paying for abortions for serving all in need," said Eric Baxter, Becket's vice president. "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. We are confident that these religious groups will finally be able to care for the most vulnerable consistent with their beliefs."
Noel J. Francisco of Jones Day added: "Religious groups in the Empire State should not be forced to provide insurance coverage that violates their deeply held religious beliefs."
The case mirrors the Little Sisters of the Poor's fight against a 2011 federal contraceptive mandate, where the Supreme Court ruled three times that religious groups cannot be forced to facilitate practices against their beliefs.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has defended the mandate as essential for women's health care, labeling the plaintiffs "extremists."
