On Monday, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) decided not to hear a legal challenge from religious organizations against a New York regulation that requires most employers to fund abortion services through their health insurance plans.
SCOTUS ordered the New York State Court of Appeals to reconsider its ruling in the case Diocese of Albany v. Emami. In the case, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany and other religious groups argued that New York’s abortion-covered health insurance regulation for employers violates its First Amendment rights. The appellate court upheld the regulation, but SCOTUS ordered a rehearing of the case.
In a statement, Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger of the Diocese of Albany said that the diocese is “gratified and grateful that the Supreme Court has recognized the serious constitutional concerns over New York State’s heavy-handed abortion mandate on religious employers.”
Mother Miriam of the Sisterhood of Saint Mary, an Anglican order of nuns based in New York said to Christian Broadcasting Network that "[w]e believe that every person is made in the image of God," and "[t]hat's why we believe in the sanctity of human life, and why we seek to serve those of all faiths — or no faith at all — in our community. We're grateful that the Supreme Court has taken action in our case and hopeful that, this time around, the New York Court of Appeals will preserve our ability to serve and encourage our neighbors."
In SCOTUS’ decision, the high court directed the New York appellate court to re-examine Diocese of Albany v. Emami following a separate decision where SCOTUS unanimously sided with a Catholic foster parent service’s legal challenge against the city of Philadelphia. In the case, Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, SCOTUS ruled that Philadelphia’s decision to refuse to make referrals to a faith-based foster care agency, Catholic Social Services (CSS), that refused to accept same-sex couples who apply to take in foster children, violated the Constitution.
In SCOTUS’ decision, Cheif Justice John Roberts wrote "CSS seeks only an accommodation that will allow it to continue serving the children of Philadelphia in a manner consistent with its religious beliefs; it does not seek to impose those beliefs on anyone else” and "[t]he refusal of Philadelphia to contract with CSS for the provision of foster care services unless the agency agrees to certify same-sex couples as foster parents cannot survive strict scrutiny and violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment."