March for Life Education and Defense Fund v. California

In 2012, the Obama administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) mandated that employers provide their employees with abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception—regardless of their religious or moral convictions. If they refused, they faced heavy financial penalties under the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”). The Supreme Court first dealt major blows to the mandate in 2014 and 2016—in Hobby Lobby Stores v. Burwell and Zubik v. Burwell.

In 2017, the Trump administration issued new HHS rules—consistent with these previous Supreme Court rulings—that were meant to ensure that religious and pro-life organizations can pursue their missions consistently with their beliefs. But Pennsylvania, California, and other states filed lawsuits to block the new rules. So organizations like the Little Sisters of the Poor and our client, March for Life Education and Defense Fund, intervened in these lawsuits to defend the new HHS rules.

In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court upheld the HHS rules that protected the conscience rights of religious and pro-life organizations in two similar cases: Little Sisters of the Poor v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Trump v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The next day, the Supreme Court vacated the 9th Circuit’s decision against March for Life and ordered it to reconsider its ruling. The case is currently stayed while the Biden administration works to roll back protection for religious and moral objectors. No one should be forced to pay for or participate in abortions—least of all pro-life groups like March for Life.

Case timeline

• December 2017: ADF attorneys asked a federal court to allow March for Life to help defend the HHS rules that protect pro-life nonprofit organizations from the Obama-era abortion-pill mandate. That request was granted.
• June 2019: ADF attorneys argued on behalf of March for Life at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. ADF urged the Court to reverse a lower court’s order temporarily halting enforcement of the final rules while the case was going on. Unfortunately, the court refused to protect the rights of March for Life and other pro-life organizations that don’t want to be forced to pay for life-ending drugs and devices. So March for Life appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
• July 2020: The Supreme Court issued a ruling in two similar cases, The Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Trump v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Court’s opinion protects the conscience rights of pro-life and religious organizations. So, the Supreme Court reversed the order halting enforcement of the final rules and sent March for Life’s case back to the Ninth Circuit for reconsideration in light of the Supreme Court’s decisions.
• December 2020: ADF attorneys defended March for Life before a federal district court in Oakland.
• Currently: The Court stayed the case while the Biden administration works to roll back protection for religious and moral objectors.