Supreme Court Grants Review In 7 Cases Challenging ACA Religious Non-Profit Accommodation On Contraceptive Coverage

The U.S. Supreme Court today granted certiorari in all seven of the cases pending before it that challenge the Obama Administration's Affordable Care Act regulations accommodating religious non-profit institutions that object to furnishing contraceptive coverage in their health insurance plans. The Court also consolidated the cases for review. (Order list.) The religious hospitals, colleges and charities involved all claim that the accommodation does not go far enough and still forces them to be complicit in furnishing contraceptive coverage. The Court limited its grant of certiorari to questions of whether the regulations' impact on the religious exercise of the non-profits violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Becket Fund has links to the petitions for certiorari in all the cases, as well as to the reply and amicus briefs.  The cases are Zubik v. Burwell (3rd Circuit); Priests for Life v. Department of Health & Human Services (D.C. Circuit); Roman Catholic Archbishop v. Burwell (D.C. Circuit); East Texas Baptist University v. Burwell (5th Circuit); Little Sisters of the Poor v. Burwell (10th Circuit); Southern Nazarene University v. Burwell (10th Circuit); and Geneva College v. Burwell (3rd Circuit).  All of these circuit court decisions upheld the accommodation.  The two cases from the 8th Circuit which held that the accommodation violates RFRA (see prior posting) have not yet reached the Supreme Court. The Washington Post reports on the Court's action.