Geneva Coll. v. Sec'y U.S. Dep't of Health & Human Servs.
| Decision Date | 11 February 2015 |
| Docket Number | 14–1376,14–1377.,Nos. 13–3536,14–1374,s. 13–3536 |
| Citation | 778 F.3d 422 |
| Parties | GENEVA COLLEGE; Wayne Hepler; the Seneca Hardwood Lumber Company, Inc., a Pennsylvania Corporation; WLH Enterprises, a Pennsylvania Sole Proprietorship of Wayne L. Hepler; Carrie E. Kolesar v. SECRETARY UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES; Secretary United States Department of Labor; Secretary United States Department of the Treasury; United States Department of Health and Human Services; United States Department of Labor; United States Department of the Treasury, Appellants in case no. 13–3536. Geneva College; Wayne L. Hepler, in his personal capacity and as owner and operator of the sole proprietorship WLH Enterprises; The Seneca Hardwood Lumber Company, Inc., a Pennsylvania Corporation; Carrie E. Kolesar v. Secretary United States Department of Health and Human Services; Secretary United States Department of Labor; Secretary United States Department of the Treasury; United States Department of Health and Human Services; United States Department of Labor; United States Department of the Treasury, Appellants in case no. 14–1374 Most Reverend Lawrence T. Persico, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie, as Trustee of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie, a Charitable Trust; the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie; St. Martin Center, Inc., an Affiliate Nonprofit Corporation of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Erie; Prince of Peace Center, Inc., an Affiliate Nonprofit Corporation of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Erie; Erie Catholic Preparatory School, an Affiliate Nonprofit Corporation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie v. Secretary of United States Department of Health and Human Services; Secretary of United States Department of Labor; Secretary of United States Department of the Treasury; United States Department of Health and Human Services; United States Department of Labor; United States Department of the Treasury, Appellants in case no. 14–1376 Most Reverend David A. Zubik, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, as Trustee of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, a Charitable Trust; the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, as the Beneficial Owner of the Pittsburgh series of The Catholic Benefits Trust; Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, Inc., an affiliate nonprofit corporation of The Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh v. Secretary of United States Department of Health and Human Services; Secretary of United States Department of Labor; Secretary of United States Department of the Treasury; United States Department of Health and Human Services; United States Department of Labor; United States Department of the Treasury, Appellants in case no. 14–1377. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Stuart F. Delery, Esquire, David J. Hickton, Esquire, Beth S. Brinkmann, Esquire, Mark B. Stern, Esquire, (Argued), Bradley P. Humphreys, Esquire, Adam C. Jed, Esquire, Alisa B. Klein, Esquire, Patrick Nemeroff, Esquire, United States Department of Justice, Eric R. Womack, Esquire, Washington, DC, Michael A. Comber, Esquire, Office of United States Attorney, Pittsburgh, PA, for Appellants Secretary United States Department of Health and Human Services; Secretary United States Department of Labor; Secretary United States Department of Treasury; United States Department of Health and Human Services; United States Department of Labor; United States Department of the Treasury.
Steven H. Aden, Esquire, Gregory S. Baylor, Esquire, (Argued), Matthew S. Bowman, Esquire, Washington, DC, Erik W. Stanley, Esquire, Scottsdale, AZ, Kevin H. Theriot, Esquire, Leawood, KS, David A. Cortman, Esquire, Lawrenceville, GA, David J. Mongillo, Esquire, Bradley S. Tupi, Esquire, Pittsburgh, PA, for Appellees Geneva College; Seneca Hardwood Lumber Company, Inc.; Carrie E. Kolesar; Wayne Hepler.
Paul M. Pohl, Esquire, (Argued), John D. Goetz, Esquire, Leon F. DeJulius, Jr., Esquire, Ira M. Karoll, Esquire, Alison M. Kilmartin, Esquire, Mary Pat Stahler, Esquire, Jones Day, Pittsburgh, PA, for Appellees Most Reverend Lawrence T. Persico, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie, as Trustee of the Roman Catholic Diocese Of Erie, a Charitable Trust; The Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie; ST. Martin Center, Inc., an affiliate Nonprofit Corporation of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Erie; Prince of Peace Center, Inc., an Affiliate Nonprofit Corporation Of Catholic Preparatory School, an Affiliate Nonprofit Corporation Of The Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie; Most Reverend David A. Zubik, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, as Trustee of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, a Charitable Trust, Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, Catholic Charities Diocese Of Pittsburgh.
Deborah J. Dewart, Esquire, Swansboro, NC, for Amicus Liberty, Life and Law Foundation.
Witold J. Walczak, Esquire, Sara J. Rose, Esquire, Brigitte Amiri, Esquire, Jennifer Lee, Esquire, New York, NY, Daniel Mach, Esquire, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Washington, DC, for Amicus Julian Bond, The American Civil Liberties Union and the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania.
Charles E. Davidow, Esquire, Andree J. Goldsmith, Esquire, Karin Dryhurst, Esquire, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, Marcia D. Greenberger, Esquire, Judith G. Waxman, Esquire, Emily J. Martin, Esquire, Gretchen Borchelt, Esquire, Leila Abolfazli, Esquire, Washington, DC, for Amicus National Women's Law Center and Twenty Other National, State and Local Organizations.
Ayesha N. Khan, Esquire, Washington, DC, for Amicus American United for Separation of Church and State.
Sarah Somers, Esquire, Martha Jane Perkins, Esquire, Dipti Singh, Esquire, Carrboro, NC, for National Health Law Program, American Public Health Association, National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, National Women's Health Network, National Latina Institute For Reproductive Health, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, AAJC, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Los Angeles, Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, National Hispanic Medical Association, Forward Together, IPAS, Sexuality Information and Education Council of the U.S. (Siecus), HIV Law Project, and California Women's Law Center as Amici Curiae.
Kimberlee Wood Colby, Esquire, Springfield, VA, for The Association of Gospel Rescue Missions, Prison Fellowship Ministries, Association of Christian Schools International, National Association of Evangelicals, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, American Bible Society, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance, and Christian Legal Society in Support of Appellees and Urging Affirmance.
Before: McKEE, Chief Judge, RENDELL, SLOVITER, Circuit Judges.
The appellees in these consolidated appeals challenge the preventive services requirements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), Pub.L. No. 111–148, 124 Stat. 119 (2010), under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (“RFRA”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000bb to 2000bb–4. Particularly, the appellees object to the ACA's requirement that contraceptive coverage be provided to their plan participants and beneficiaries. However, the nonprofit appellees are eligible for an accommodation to the contraceptive coverage requirement, whereby once they advise that they will not pay for the contraceptive services, coverage for those services will be independently provided by an insurance issuer or third-party administrator. The appellees urge that the accommodation violates RFRA because it forces them to “facilitate” or “trigger” the provision of insurance coverage for contraceptive services, which they oppose on religious grounds. The appellees affiliated with the Catholic Church also object on the basis that the application of the accommodation to Catholic nonprofit organizations has the impermissible effect of dividing the Catholic Church, because the Dioceses themselves are eligible for an actual exemption from the contraceptive coverage requirement. The District Courts granted the appellees' motions for a preliminary injunction, and, in one of the cases, converted the preliminary injunction to a permanent injunction. Because we disagree with the District Courts and conclude that the accommodation places no substantial burden on the appellees, we will reverse.
In 2010, Congress passed the ACA, which requires group health plans and health insurance issuers offering health insurance coverage 1 to cover preventive care and screenings for women, without cost sharing (such as a copayment, coinsurance, or a deductible), as provided for in guidelines established by the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”). 42 U.S.C. § 300gg–13(a)(4).2 HHS requested assistance from the Institute of Medicine (“IOM”), a nonprofit arm of the National Academy of Sciences, to develop guidelines regarding which preventive services for women should be required. Group Health Plans and Health Insurance Issuers Relating to Coverage of Preventive Services Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, 77 Fed.Reg. 8725, 8726 (Feb. 15, 2012) (). The IOM issued a report recommending a list of preventive care services, including all contraceptive methods approved by the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”). The regulatory guidelines accordingly included “[a]ll Food and Drug Administration ... approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling for all women with reproductive capacity,” as prescribed by a health care provider. 77 Fed.Reg. ...
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Contraceptive Coverage Falls, No More: Using Rfra to Limit the Scope of Religious Challenges to the Aca's Contraceptive Mandate
...449 (5th Cir. 2015), cert. granted, 136 S. Ct. 445 (2015) (mem.) (No. 15-35); Geneva Coll. v. Sec'y U.S. Dep't of Health & Hum. Servs., 778 F.3d 422 (3d Cir. 2015), cert. granted sub nom. Zubik v. Burwell, 136 S. Ct. 529 (2015) (mem.) (No. 14-1418); Priests for Life v. U.S. Dep't of Health ......