_________________

_________________ 1 (Slip Opinion) Cite as: 578 U. S. ____ (2016)

Per Curiam

NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the preliminary print of the United States Reports. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash

ington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press.


## SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

Nos. 14–1418, 14–1453, 14–1505, 15 –35, 15–105, 15–119, and 15–191

DAVID A. ZUBIK, ET AL ., PETITIONERS

14–1418 v.

SYLVIA BURWELL, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL .;

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

PRIESTS FOR LIFE, ET AL ., PETITIONERS

14–1453 v. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL .;

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT

ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBIS HOP OF WASHINGTON,

ET AL ., PETITIONERS

14–1505 v. SYLVIA BURWELL, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL .;

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT

EAST TEXAS BAPTIST UNIVERSITY, ET AL

., PETITIONERS2 ZUBIK v. BURWELL

Per Curiam

15–35 v.

SYLVIA BURWELL, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL .;

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR HOME FOR

THE AGED, DENVER, COLORADO, ET AL

., PETITIONERS

15–105 v.

SYLVIA BURWELL, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL .;

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT

SOUTHERN NAZARENE UNIVERSITY, ET AL

., PETITIONERS

15–119 v.

SYLVIA BURWELL, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL .; AND

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT

GENEVA COLLEGE, PETITIONER

15–191 v.

SYLVIA BURWELL, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL

.

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

[May 16, 2016]3 Cite as: 578 U. S. ____ (2016)

Per Curiam

P ER C URIAM

. Petitioners are primarily nonprofit organizations that provide health insurance to their employees. Federal regulations require petitioner s to cover certain contracep

tives as part of their health plans, unless petitioners
submit a form either to their insurer or to the Federal Government, stating that they object on religious grounds to providing contraceptive coverage. Petitioners allege that submitting this notice substantially burdens the exercise of their religion, in violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, 107 Stat. 1488, 42
U. S. C. §2000bb et seq

. Following oral argument, the Court requested supple

mental briefing from the parties addressing “whether contraceptive coverage could be provided to petitioners’ employees, through petitioners’ insurance companies, without any such notice from petitioners.” Post

, p.
___. Both petitioners and the Government now confirm that such an option is feasible. Petitioners have clarified that their religious exercise is no t infringed where they “need to do nothing more than contract for a plan that does not include coverage for some or all forms of contraception,” even if their employees receive cost-free contraceptive coverage from the same insurance company. Supple

mental Brief for Petitioners 4. The Government has con

firmed that the challenged pr ocedures “for employers with insured plans could be modified to operate in the manner posited in the Court’s order while still ensuring that the
affected women receive contrace ptive coverage seamlessly, together with the rest of thei r health coverage.” Supple

mental Brief for Respondents 14–15. In light of the positions asserted by the parties in their supplemental briefs, the Court vacates the judgments below and remands to the respective United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fifth, Tenth, and D. C. Circuits. Given the gravity of the dispute and the substantial clari

-4 ZUBIK v. BURWELL

Per Curiam

fication and refinement in th e positions of the parties, the parties on remand should be afforded an opportunity to arrive at an approach goin g forward that accommodates petitioners’ religious exercise while at the same time ensuring that women covered by petitioners’ health plans “receive full and equal health coverage, including contra

ceptive coverage.” Id. , at 1. We anticipate that the Courts of Appeals will allow the parties sufficient time to resolve any outstanding issues between them. The Court finds the foregoing approach more suitable than addressing the significantly clarified views of the parties in the first instance. Although there may still be areas of disagreement between the parties on issues of implementation, the importance of those areas of potential concern is uncertain, as is the necessity of this Court’s involvement at this point to resolve them. This Court has taken similar action in other cases in the past. See, e.g., Madison County v. Oneida Indian Nation of N. Y. , 562
U. S. 42, 43 (2011) ( per curiam ) (vacating and remanding for the Second Circuit to “address, in the first instance, whether to revisit its ruling on sovereign immunity in light of [a] new factual development, and—if necessary— proceed to address other questio ns in the case consistent with its sovereign immunity ruling”); Kiyemba v. Obama

, 559 U. S. 131, 132 (2010) ( per curiam ) (vacating and re

manding for the D. C. Circuit to “determine, in the first instance, what further proceedings in that court or in the District Court are necessary and appropriate for the full and prompt disposition of the case in light of the new developments”); Villarreal v. United States , 572 U. S. ___ (2014) (vacating and remanding to the Fifth Circuit “for further consideration in light of the position asserted by the Solicitor General in his brief for the United States”). The Court expresses no view on the merits of the cases. In particular, the Court does not decide whether petition

ers’ religious exercise has been substantially burdened,5 Cite as: 578 U. S. ____ (2016)

Per Curiam

whether the Government has a compelling interest, or whether the current regulations are the least restrictive means of serving that interest. Nothing in this opinion, or in the opinions or orders of the courts below, is to affe ct the ability of the Government
to ensure that women covered by petitioners’ health plans “obtain, without cost, the full range of FDA approved contraceptives.” Wheaton College v. Burwell , 573 U. S. ___, ___ (2014) (slip op., at 1) . Through this litigation, petitioners have made the Government aware of their view that they meet “the requirements for exemption from the contraceptive coverage requirement on religious grounds.” Id., at ___ (slip op., at 2). Nothing in this opin

ion, or in the opinions or orders of the courts below, “pre

cludes the Government from relying on this notice, to the
extent it considers it necessa ry, to facilitate the provision of full contraceptive coverage” going forward. Ibid . Be

cause the Government may rely on this notice, the Gov

ernment may not impose taxes or penalties on petitioners for failure to provide the relevant notice. The judgments of the Courts of Appeals are vacated, and the cases are remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered._________________

_________________ 1 Cite as: 578 U. S. ____ (2016)

S OTOMAYOR

, J., concurring



## SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

Nos. 14–1418, 14–1453, 14–1505, 15 –35, 15–105, 15–119, and 15–191

DAVID A. ZUBIK, ET AL ., PETITIONERS

14–1418 v.

SYLVIA BURWELL, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL .;

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

PRIESTS FOR LIFE, ET AL ., PETITIONERS

14–1453 v. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL .;

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT

ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBIS HOP OF WASHINGTON,

ET AL ., PETITIONERS

14–1505 v. SYLVIA BURWELL, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL .;

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT

EAST TEXAS BAPTIST UNIVERSITY, ET AL

., PETITIONERS

15–35 v.

SYLVIA BURWELL, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL .;2 ZUBIK v. BURWELL

S OTOMAYOR

, J., concurring

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR HOME FOR

THE AGED, DENVER, COLORADO, ET AL

., PETITIONERS

15–105 v.

SYLVIA BURWELL, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL .;

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT

SOUTHERN NAZARENE UNIVERSITY, ET AL

., PETITIONERS

15–119 v.

SYLVIA BURWELL, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL .; AND

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT

GENEVA COLLEGE, PETITIONER

15–191 v.

SYLVIA BURWELL, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL

.

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF
APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

[May 16, 2016]

J USTICE S OTOMAYOR , with whom J USTICE G INSBURG joins, concurring.
I join the Court’s per curiam opinion because it expresses no view on “the merits of the cases,” “whether petition-3 Cite as: 578 U. S. ____ (2016)

S OTOMAYOR

, J., concurring

ers’ religious exercise has b een substantially burdened,” or “whether the current regulations are the least restrictive means of serving” a compelling governmental interest.
Ante , at 4–5. Lower courts, therefore, should not construe either today’s per curiam or our order of March 29, 2016, as signals of where this Court stands. We have included similarly explicit disclaimers in previous orders. See, e.g., Wheaton College v. Burwell , 573 U. S. ___ (2014) (“[T]his order should not be construed as an expression of the Court’s views on the merits”). Yet some lower courts have ignored those instructions. See, e.g., Sharpe Holdings,
Inc. , v. Department of Health and Human Servs. , 801 F. 3d 927, 944 (CA8 2015) (“[I]n Wheaton College, Little Sisters of the Poor , and Zubik

, the Supreme Court approved a method of notice to HHS that is arguably less onerous than [existing regulations] yet permits the government to further its interests. Although the Court’s orders were not final rulings on the merits, they at the very least collec

tively constitute a signal t hat less restrictive means exist by which the government may further its interests”). On remand in these cases, the Courts of Appeals should not
make the same mistake. I also join the Court’s opinion because it allows the lower courts to consider only whether existing or modified regulations could provide seam less contraceptive coverage

“ ‘to petitioners’ employees, through petitioners’ insurance companies, without any . . . notice from petitioners.’ ” Ante, at 3. The opinion does not, by contrast, endorse the petitioners’ position that th e existing regulations substan

tially burden their religious exercise or that contraceptive coverage must be provided through a “separate policy, with a separate enrollment process.” Supp. Brief for Petitioners 1; Supp. Reply Brief for Petitioners 5. Such separate contraceptive-only po licies do not currently exist, and the Government has laid out a number of legal and practical obstacles to their creation. See Supp. Reply Brief4 ZUBIK v. BURWELL

S OTOMAYOR

, J., concurring

for Respondents 3–4. Requiring standalone contraceptiveonly coverage would leave in limbo all of the women now guaranteed seamless preventive-care coverage under the
Affordable Care Act. And re quiring that women affirma

tively opt into such coverage would “impose precisely the kind of barrier to the delivery of preventive services that Congress sought to eliminate.” Id. , at 6. Today’s opinion does only what it says it does: “afford[s] an opportunity” for the parties and Courts of Appeals to reconsider the parties’ arguments in light of petitioners’
new articulation of their re ligious objection and the Gov

ernment’s clarification about w hat the existing regulations accomplish, how they might be amended, and what such
an amendment would sacrifice. Ante, at 4. As enlightened by the parties’ new submissions, the Courts of Appeals
remain free to reach the same conclusion or a different one on each of the questions presented by these cases.