Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany v. Vullo

Summary

The court affirmed dismissal of plaintiffs' First Amendment free exercise challenge to New York's requirement that employer health insurance policies cover medically necessary abortions, subject to an exemption for defined religious employers. The court held that the exemption remains generally applicable because it uses objective criteria rather than discretionary, individualized exemptions and does not permit comparable secular conduct that undermines the State's interests. The court concluded that the intervening federal decision did not undermine the court's prior precedent upholding the materially identical exemption.