Notre Dame Asks For Supreme Court GVR In Contraceptive Coverage Challenge

On Oct. 3, a petition for certiorari was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in University of Notre Dame v. Burwell, (Docket No. 14-392). In the case, the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a preliminary injunction to Notre Dame in its challenge to the Affordable Care Act contraceptive coverage mandate as applied to religious non-profits. (See prior posting.) As reported by MSNBC, the petition does not seek full Supreme Court review, but instead asks the Court to grant certiorari, vacate the 7th Circuit's decision and remand for reconsideration ("GVR") in light of the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision. In the petition, Notre Dame argued:

Just as a Mormon might refuse to hire a caterer that insisted on serving alcohol to his wedding guests, or a Jew might refuse to hire a caterer determined to serve pork at his son’s bar mitzvah, it violates Notre Dame’s religious beliefs to hire or maintain a relationship with any third party that will provide contraceptive coverage to its plan beneficiaries,