On May 16, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided to send the Zubik v. Burwell case, which challenges the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive requirement for employers, back to the lower courts.
The ruling was based on the information that both sides submitted a week after oral arguments were heard. The justices said they were not submitting opinions on the merits of the cases, and were not ruling on the issue of religious freedom (or a violation of it).
Jennifer C. Pizer of Lambda Legal said in a statement that the “decision means employees of these religious nonprofit employers should receive no-cost birth control coverage because these lawsuits can be taken as notice of the employers’ objections to this health insurance.
“This is an important win for gender equality and public health. At the same time, this way of handling these cases leaves unanswered the critical question whether the concept of religious freedom can be stretched beyond all recognition to validate the breath-taking, harmful overreach attempted here.”