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Page Number: 5.0

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

1 

Opinion of the Court 

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. 19–431 and 19–454 
_________________ 

LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR SAINTS PETER  
AND PAUL HOME, PETITIONER 
v. 
PENNSYLVANIA, ET AL. 

19–431 

DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE 
UNITED STATES, ET AL., PETITIONERS 
v. 
PENNSYLVANIA, ET AL. 

19–454 

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

[July 8, 2020]

 JUSTICE THOMAS delivered the opinion of the Court. 
In these consolidated cases, we decide whether the Gov-
ernment  created  lawful  exemptions  from  a  regulatory  re-
quirement implementing the Patient Protection and Afford-
able  Care  Act  of  2010  (ACA),  124  Stat.  119.  The 
requirement at issue obligates certain employers to provide
contraceptive  coverage  to  their  employees  through  their 
group health plans.  Though contraceptive coverage is not
required by (or even mentioned in) the ACA provision at is-
sue, the Government mandated such coverage by promul-
gating  interim  final  rules  (IFRs)  shortly  after  the  ACA’s 
passage.  This requirement is known as the contraceptive 
mandate. 

After six years of protracted litigation, the Departments