In early March, Americans United, joined by the National Women’s Law Center and over 60 reproductive rights, civil rights, religious, and other social justice organizations, urged the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to affirm that overly broad religious exemptions shouldn’t be used to undermine nationwide access to birth control.
The organizations filed an amicus brief in the long-running case Pennsylvania v. Trump, which involves a challenge to the regulations enacted by the first Trump administration allowing employers and universities to cite religious beliefs to deny birth control coverage to workers and students that otherwise are required by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
One aspect of the case already was reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court: In July 2020, the court ruled that the ACA gave the Trump administration the authority to issue the rules, and that the administration could consider the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) in developing the rules. But the court did not resolve whether RFRA required the expanded exemptions or whether the rules were arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. The court returned these issues to the lower courts to be considered there first.
In the recent brief, AU and allies stressed that the federal regulations granting broad religious exemptions for contraceptive care are not required by RFRA; are arbitrary and capricious; and that the federal agencies failed to consider the harm these religious exemptions would cause to people’s health and equality.
“Religious freedom means employees and students must be free to make reproductive health care decisions based on their own needs and beliefs — not those of their employers, college administrators, or politicians,” said AU President and CEO Rachel Laser. “These Trump administration regulations are part of the Christian Nationalist agenda to force everyone to live by one narrow set of religious beliefs.”