Litigation Update: Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany v. Vullo

In 2017, New York passed a law requiring employers to cover abortions in their health insurance plans. New York initially planned to exempt religious employers with sincere religious objections but later changed the exemption to protect only religious entities whose purpose is to inculcate religious values and who primarily employ and serve coreligionists. This exempted non-objecting ministries while leaving many religious groups that do object unprotected. Several of these unprotected religious groups—including an order of Anglican nuns, Roman Catholic dioceses, and Baptist and Lutheran churches—sued New York, arguing that the law forced them to violate their deeply held religious beliefs. The New York courts ruled against the religious groups and in 2021, represented by Jones Day and Becket, the groups asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its case. The Supreme Court granted the petition, vacated the bad rulings from the New York state courts, and told the state courts to reconsider the case in light of Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. But on May 21, 2024, the New York Court of Appeals found Fulton inapplicable and again upheld the abortion mandate. The religious groups’ cert petition is due on August 18, 2024.

Featuring:

Lori Windham, Vice President and Senior Counsel, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
(Moderator) Whitney Hermandorfer, Director of Strategic Litigation Unit, Office of the Tennessee Attorney General