Amicus Brief Filed in Support of the Contraception Mandate

Paul, Weiss filed an amicus brief on behalf of the National Women's Law Center (NWLC) in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the contraception mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).  

In September 2012, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri dismissed a challenge to the contraception mandate in the ACA, which provides that employers must include in their group health insurance plans coverage for "[a]ll [FDA] approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures and patient education and counseling for all women with reproductive capacity." The challenge was brought by a Catholic business owner in Missouri who argued that the mandate constituted a violation of the First Amendment, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and the Administrative Procedures Act.

The District Court dismissed the RFRA claim on the basis that the contraception regulations did not substantially burden plaintiff's exercise of religion. NWLC's Eighth Circuit brief focused on the RFRA claim and asserted that, even if the ACA's contraception mandate substantially burdens plaintiff's exercise of religion, the mandate does not run afoul of RFRA because it serves two compelling state interests: safeguarding the public health by decreasing the number of unintended pregnancies and their resulting negative health consequences for women and children; and promoting women's equality, both in the provision of health care and in society more generally. NWLC's brief further argued that the contraception mandate advances these compelling governmental interests in the least restrictive means possible, since plaintiff did not identify any feasible alternative to the contraception regulations that would be as effective in increasing women's access to contraception. 

The Paul, Weiss team included litigation partner Charles Davidow and associates Kim Allen, Andree Goldsmith and Ilana Waxman.