Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/19-431_5i36.pdf
Page Number: 41

Cite as:  591 U. S. ____ (2020) 

11 

ALITO, J., concurring 

furnish free contraceptives to all women. 

If we were required to exercise our own judgment on the 
question whether the Government has an obligation to pro-
vide  free  contraceptives  to  all  women,  we  would  have  to 
take sides in the great national debate about whether the 
Government should provide free and comprehensive medi-
cal care for all.  Entering that policy debate would be incon-
sistent with our proper role, and RFRA does not call on us
to express a view on that issue.  We can answer the compel-
ling  interest  question simply  by  asking  whether  Congress 
has  treated  the  provision  of  free  contraceptives  to  all 
women as a compelling interest. 
  “ ‘[A] law cannot be regarded as protecting an interest “of
the highest order” . . . when it leaves appreciable damage to
that  supposedly  vital  interest  unprohibited.’ ”    Church  of 
Lukumi  Babalu  Aye,  Inc.  v.  Hialeah,  508  U. S.  520,  547 
(1993).  Thus, in considering whether Congress has mani-
fested the view that it has a compelling interest in provid-
ing free contraceptives to all women, we must take into ac-
count  “exceptions”  to  this  asserted  “ ‘rule  of  general 
applicability.’ ”   Gonzales  v.  O  Centro  Espírita  Beneficente 
União  do  Vegetal,  546  U. S.  418,  436  (2006)  (quoting 
§2000bb–1(a)).  And here, there are exceptions aplenty.  The 
ACA—which  fails  to  ensure  that  millions  of  women  have 
access  to  free  contraceptives—unmistakably  shows  that 
Congress, at least to date, has not regarded this interest as
compelling.

First,  the  ACA  does  not  provide  contraceptive  coverage
for women who do not work outside the home.  If Congress
thought that there was a compelling need to make free con-
traceptives available for all women, why did it make no pro-
vision for women who do not receive a paycheck?  Some of 
these women may have a greater need for free contracep-
tives than do women in the work force. 

Second, if Congress thought that there was a compelling 
need  to  provide  cost-free  contraceptives  for  all  working