Overview

• The Supreme Court vacated the New York Court of Appeals’ May 2024 ruling in Diocese of Albany v. Harris and sent the case back for further consideration.
• Justices cited the June 5 Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin decision, which applied strict scrutiny to religious exemptions after reviving a Catholic charity’s tax challenge.
• Plaintiffs including Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopalian and Baptist organizations argue that New York’s exemption unfairly excludes entities that serve the broader public rather than only co-religionists.
• New York’s 2017 abortion coverage requirement was approved by state regulators and codified in 2022 with an exemption limited to nonprofits whose primary purpose is religious instruction and service to their own faith communities.
• This is the second Supreme Court directive in four years for New York courts to revisit the case, following an initial remand in 2021 tied to Fulton v. City of Philadelphia.