Opinion ID: 2778691
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Zubik/Persico District Court Opinions

Text: The District Court issued a preliminary injunction that applied to both the Zubik and Persico cases on November 21, 2013, and converted that injunction into a permanent injunction on December 20, 2013. The District Court characterized the issue before it as “whether [the appellees], being non-secular in nature, are likely to succeed on the merits of proving that their right to freely exercise their religion has been substantially burdened by the ‘accommodation’ which requires the Bishops of two separate Dioceses . . . to sign a form which thereby facilitates/initiates the provision of contraceptive products, services, and counseling.” (J.A. 116.) The Zubik/Persico appellees conceded that they have provided similar information as is required by the self-certification form to their third-party administrator in the past. However, their past actions barred the provision of contraceptive products, services, or counseling. Now, under the ACA, this information will be used to “facilitate/initiate the provision of 25 contraceptive products, services, or counseling – in direct contravention to their religious tenets.” (Id.) Accordingly, the District Court concluded that the government is impermissibly asking the appellees for documentation for what the appellees sincerely believe is an immoral purpose, and thus “they cannot provide it.” (J.A. 117.) In conclusion, the District Court acknowledged that the accommodation allows the appellees to avoid directly paying for contraceptive services by shifting responsibility for providing contraceptive coverage. Despite this fact, because the appellees had a sincerely held belief that this shift in responsibility did not exonerate them from the moral implications of the use of contraception, the accommodation imposed a substantial burden. Furthermore, the District Court held that the differing application of the exemption and the accommodation—the former applying to the Catholic Church, and the latter applying to Catholic nonprofit organizations—has the effect of dividing the Catholic Church, thereby imposing a substantial burden. “[T]he religious employer ‘accommodation’ separates the ‘good works (faith in action) employers’ from the ‘houses of worship employers’ within the Catholic Church by refusing to allow the ‘good works employers’ the same burden-free exercise of their religion” under the exemption. (J.A. 118.) The District Court questioned why religious employers who share the same religious tenets are not exempt, or why all religious employers do not fall within the accommodation, such that “even though [the appellees] here share identical, religious beliefs, and even though they share the same persons as the religious heads of their organizations, the heads of [the appellees’] service organizations may not fully exercise their 26 right to those specific beliefs, when acting as the heads of the charitable and educational arms of the Church.” (J.A. 118, 120.) The District Court concluded that “the religious employer ‘exemption’ enables some religious employers to completely eliminate the provision of contraceptive products, services, and counseling through the Dioceses’ health plans and third parties,” whereas “the religious employer ‘accommodation’ requires other religious employers (often times the same member with the same sincerely-held beliefs) to take affirmative actions to facilitate/initiate the provision of contraceptive products, services, and counseling – albeit from a third-party.” (J.A. 120-21.) The Zubik/Persico appellees argue that the District Court was correct in finding a substantial burden because (1) they interpret the accommodation to require them to authorize and designate a third party to add the objectionable coverage to their plans, in violation of their sincerely held religious beliefs that they cannot provide or facilitate that coverage; and (2) the different scope of the religious employer exemption and the accommodation impermissibly splits the Catholic Church. The government, as appellant in both the Zubik/Persico and Geneva appeals, argues that the District Courts were incorrect and the appellees are not subject to a substantial burden, because the submission of the form is not in itself burdensome and does not give rise to the coverage. Rather, federal law requires third parties—insurance issuers and third-party administrators—to provide coverage after the appellees refuse to provide contraceptive coverage themselves. By invoking the accommodation process, the appellees do not facilitate the provision of contraceptive 27 coverage by third parties. Rather, the third parties providing coverage do so as a result of legal obligations imposed by the ACA.