NEW YORK (BP) – The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) is among several religious groups, legal scholars and 20 states that have signed amicus briefs in support of a New York diocese fighting to avoid paying for abortions in employee health plans.
The Diocese of Albany is petitioning the Supreme Court for a second time in the case that dates to 2016, seeking exemption from a New York law that exempts religious employers only when they exclusively serve people of the same faith. As such, New York is forcing the Sisterhood of St. Mary and other Albany Diocese employers to include abortion coverage in employee health plans, because they serve all people in need, regardless of faith, their attorneys at Becket Law said.
In its amicus brief, ERLC argued New York’s abortion mandate invades the diocese’s religious autonomy, that the lower court misinterpreted the law in question, and that the case offers the court an opportunity to clarify once and for all that the state cannot force religious institutions to choose between obedience to the law and fidelity to faith.
“New York’s assault on religious autonomy is, in short, not a one-off,” ERLC wrote in its brief, joined by four other religious groups. “Unless this Court intervenes, religious employers will continue to face State laws requiring them to subsidize abortions in defiance of their sincere religious beliefs.”
The case also impacts Southern Baptist concerns, ERLC Senior Policy Associate Allison Cantrell told Baptist Press.
“Abortion is simply not healthcare,” Cantrell said. “By compelling faith-based employers to provide healthcare coverage of contraceptives and abortifacients against their deeply held religious convictions, the state of New York has grievously violated the religious liberty of numerous nonprofits, charities, and religious entities, including some Southern Baptist churches.
“We encourage the Supreme Court to take up this case and reinforce the longstanding, rich history of religious liberty in the United States.”
This is the second time the Supreme Court is being asked to review the case. In November 2021, the court vacated the lower court’s ruling and asked it to reconsider in light of a Supreme Court ruling months earlier in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia.
In Fulton, the High Court ruled in favor of faith-based adoption and foster-care agency Catholic Social Services. The city of Philadelphia, the court said, violated the agency’s religious freedom by refusing to contract with the agency because it does not place children with same-sex couples based on its beliefs about marriage and sexuality.
“Ordered to reconsider the petitioners’ claims in light of Fulton v. City of Philadelphia … New York’s courts doubled down,” ERLC wrote in its brief. “The Court of Appeals brushed aside the petitioner’s claims by minimizing Fulton’s relevance and rehashing principles of governmental deference grounded in a two-decade-old State precedent that undervalues the unique sensitivities of abortion and this Court’s current approach to the Free Exercise Clause.”
Joining the ERLC on the brief filed Oct. 21 are the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, and the Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy of the Anglican Church in North America.
Texas led a coalition of 20 states in a separate brief asking the state to review the case. Other states include Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.
The case is Diocese of Albany v. Adrienne A. Harris.
