The U.S. Supreme Court building, Wikimedia Commons, Daderot.
On Friday, a coalition of Roman Catholic, Baptist, Anglican, and Lutheran churches and charities asked the Supreme Court to consider whether or not New York’s abortion mandate violates their religious freedom. New York requires employers to cover “medically necessary abortions” — broadly defined — in their employee health care plans. While the mandate includes a religious freedom exemption, it does not apply to pro-life entities unless they only serve members of the same religion, among other things.
The Christian groups appealed to the Supreme Court, asking the Court to take up the case because it presents an opportunity to clarify critical religious freedom issues after many cases involving the COVID-19 pandemic. These churches and charities noted that if the abortion mandate remains in place, they will have to violate their core beliefs, cease offering health insurance to their employees, or shut down altogether.