Geneva College v. Azar

Geneva College is a Christ-centered liberal arts college located in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. The government sought to force the college to compromise its deeply held religious beliefs on the sanctity of human life when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a mandate that required Geneva College to include all FDA-approved contraceptives, including abortion-inducing drugs and devices, in its employee and student health plans, or else face severe penalties. ADF stepped in to challenge this unconstitutional mandate.

The Supreme Court consolidated this case with six others (including Southern Nazarene University v. Burwell) and issued a per curium opinion directing the courts to allow the parties to “arrive at an approach going forward that accommodates petitioners’ religious exercise.” The Court also forbade the government from imposing fines on the challengers for failing to comply with the mandate. In July 2018, a district court enjoined the federal government from enforcing the mandate against Geneva College, permanently protecting the college’s religious freedom.

Case timeline

• May 2012: ADF attorneys filed a lawsuit on behalf of Geneva College alleging the HHS contraceptive mandate violated RFRA.
• September 2013: ADF attorneys filed a lawsuit on behalf of Southern Nazarene University, Oklahoma Wesleyan University, Oklahoma Baptist University, and Mid-America Christian University, alleging the HHS contraceptive mandate violated RFRA.
• December 2013: The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma granted ADF’s petition to halt enforcement of the mandate against the four Oklahoma universities. On the same day, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania halted enforcement of the mandate against Geneva College. HHS appealed both rulings.
• February 2015: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit reversed the district court decision and ruled that Geneva College had not shown that HHS had violated RFRA.
• July 2015: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit reversed the district court decision and ruled the Oklahoma universities had not shown that HHS had violated RFRA. ADF appealed both circuit courts’ decisions to the U.S. Supreme Court.
• March 2016: The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in a case that consolidated that of Geneva College, the Oklahoma universities, and five other similar cases.
• May 2016: The U.S. Supreme Court did not decide whether the HHS mandate violated RFRA, but it sent the cases back to the lower courts “to arrive at an approach going forward that accommodates petitioners’ religious exercise.”
• October 2017: After the election of President Trump, HHS issued new rules dramatically expanding the religious exemption and adding a parallel exemption for objectors with sincere moral, non-religious convictions. The Department of Justice subsequently dropped its opposition to the schools’ claims.
• May 2018: The district court in Oklahoma issued an order permanently protecting the Oklahoma universities from being forced to cover drugs and devices that could kill an unborn child.
• July 2018: The district court in Pennsylvania came to the same conclusion and permanently protected Geneva College from enforcement of those aspects of the mandate that contradict its religious beliefs.