The U.S. Supreme Court has cracked open a long-sealed door for the Catholic Diocese of Albany, allowing it another swing at a state regulation it claims bulldozes its religious freedoms.
In a quiet but pointed move, the justices tossed aside a lower court ruling that had backed New York’s 2017 mandate requiring most employer-sponsored health insurance plans to cover abortions. The justices didn’t issue a full ruling of their own—instead, they handed the matter back to New York’s top court with instructions to take a fresh look, especially in light of a recent Supreme Court decision from Wisconsin that favored a Catholic group seeking exemption from a different state rule.
At the heart of the dispute is New York’s narrow religious exemption, which allows only nonprofits that exist mainly to instill religious values and serve their own faith community to opt out of the abortion coverage rule. The Albany Diocese says that definition is far too cramped. They argue that many Catholic-run services—like food pantries, shelters, and schools—serve anyone in need, regardless of belief, and should still be granted protection under religious freedom principles.
The law itself, made permanent by the state legislature in 2022, wasn’t directly challenged. Instead, the Diocese went after the original Department of Financial Services regulation that set the requirement in motion. That legal journey has stretched across nearly a decade, including a 2020 ruling from New York’s Court of Appeals that rejected the Diocese’s case by citing precedent on contraception mandates.
But recent years have reshaped the legal landscape. In 2021, the Supreme Court sided with a Catholic agency in Philadelphia that refused to place foster children with same-sex couples. Now, with a 6-3 conservative tilt, the Court has shown growing appetite for reinforcing religious liberty arguments. Just this month, it ruled that any law or rule that appears to favor one religion over another must face the highest constitutional scrutiny—an exacting standard that could shift how similar cases are judged going forward.
For now, New York’s top judges will have to reassess the Diocese’s claims through that more exacting lens. Whether that means the state’s insurance rules get reined in, rewritten, or reaffirmed remains an open—and politically charged—question.
