On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered New York courts to reconsider a case in which the state required Catholic and Anglican nuns, Catholic dioceses, Christian churches, and faith-based social ministries to cover abortion services in their employee health plans.

The case, Diocese of Albany v. Harris, stems from a 2017 lawsuit filed by the nuns and other religious organizations challenging the state’s mandate.

“When the New York State Department of Financial Services initially proposed the abortion mandate for health care plans, it promised to exempt all employers with religious objections. But after facing pressure from abortion activists, New York narrowed the exemption to cover only religious groups that primarily teach religion and primarily serve and hire those who share their faith,” the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a non-profit law firm, noted.

New York courts initially upheld the mandate, prompting the law firms Becket and Jones Day to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2021, the Supreme Court overturned the state court ruling and ordered a reconsideration in light of its decision in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, a case Becket had successfully argued. However, the New York courts later ruled that Fulton did not apply to the Diocese case.

Then, last week, Becket secured a unanimous victory in Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor & Industry Review Commission. In that case, the court sided with a Catholic charity that had sued the state of Wisconsin over being required to pay certain unemployment taxes from which other religious organizations were exempt.

That ruling prompted the Supreme Court to remand the Diocese of Albany case back to the New York Court of Appeals for further consideration.

“The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted,” the Supreme Court wrote. “The judgment is vacated, and the case is remanded to the Court of Appeals for New York for further consideration in light of Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. v. Wisconsin Labor & Industry Review Comm’n.”

“New York wants to browbeat nuns into paying for abortions for the great crime of serving all those in need,” Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, stated. “For the second time in four years, the Supreme Court has made clear that bully tactics like these have no place in our nation or our law. We are confident that these religious groups will finally be able to care for the most vulnerable consistent with their beliefs.”