[I]f the purpose or effect of a law is to impede the observance of one or all religions or is to discriminate invidiously between religions, that law is constitutionally invalid even though the burden may be characterized as being only indirect. Here not only is it apparent that appellant's declared ineligibility for benefits derives solely from the practice of her religion, but the pressure upon her to forego that practice is unmistakable. The ruling forces her to choose between following the precepts of her religion and forfeiting benefits, on the one hand, and abandoning one of the precepts of her religion in order to accept work, on the other hand.
[T]he unchallenged testimony of acknowledged experts in education and religious history, almost 300 years of consistent practice, and strong evidence of a sustained faith pervading and regulating respondents' entire mode of life support the claim that enforcement of the State's requirement of compulsory formal education after the eighth grade would gravely endanger if not destroy the free exercise of respondents' religious beliefs.
Where the state conditions receipt of an important benefit upon conduct proscribed by a religious faith, or where it denies such a benefit because of conduct mandated by religious belief, thereby putting substantial pressure on an adherent to modify his behavior and to violate his beliefs, a burden upon religion exists. While the compulsion may be indirect, the infringement upon free exercise is nonetheless substantial.
Under the original version of the Mandate, a non-exempt religious organization's decision to offer a group health plan resulted in the provision of coverage for [contraceptive services]. Under the Final Rule, a non-exempt religious organization's decision to offer a group health plan still results in the provision of coverage.... In both scenarios, Plaintiffs' actions trigger the provision of “free” contraceptive coverage to their employees in a manner contrary to their beliefs. The provision of the objectionable products and services are directly tied to Plaintiffs' insurance policies....
Kaemmerling's objection to the DNA Act centers on the government's act of extracting and analyzing his DNA ... without suggesting that the Act imposes any restriction on what Kaemmerling can believe or do. Like the parents in Bowen, Kaemmerling's opposition to government collection and storage of his DNA profile does not contend that any act of the government pressures him to change his behavior and violate his religion, but only seeks to require the government to conduct its affairs in conformance with his religion.
Religious exercise necessarily involves an action or practice, as in Sherbert, where the denial of unemployment benefits impeded the observance of the plaintiff's religion by pressuring her to work on Saturday ..., or in Yoder, where the compulsory education law compelled the Amish to perform acts undeniably at odds with fundamental tenets of their religious beliefs. Kaemmerling, in contrast ... suggests no way in which these governmental acts pressure him to modify his own behavior in any way that would violate his beliefs.
The burden on religious exercise does not occur at the point of contraceptive purchase; instead, it occurs when a company's owners fill the basket of goods and services that constitute a healthcare plan. In other words, the Gilardis are burdened when they are pressured to choose between violating their religious beliefs in managing their selected plan or paying onerous penalties.
[W]hen a [third-party administrator] receives a copy of the self-certification from an eligible employer that sponsors a self-insured group health plan, that [third-party administrator] becomes an ERISA Section 3(16) plan administrator and claims administrator for the purpose of providing the separate payments for contraceptive services. Thus, the contraceptive coverage requirements can be enforced against such [third-party administrators] through defendant Department of Labor's ERISA enforcement authority.
The third party administrator (TPA) of the Archdiocese's self-insured church plan is not bound to provide or arrange for payments under section [2590.715–2713A(b)(2) ]. As explained in defendants' earlier briefing, the government's authority to require TPAs to make such payments derives from ERISA, and church plans are specifically excluded from regulation under ERISA. Self-certification remains a requirement that the non–Archdiocese plaintiffs must satisfy if they wish to be considered “eligible organization[s]” and thereby comply with the regulations, but the regulations do not require a self-insured church plan or any [third-party administrator] of the plan to make payments for contraceptive services for plan participants and beneficiaries.
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