May 16, 2016
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) Today the Supreme Court of the United States announced that it is vacating the prior decisions of the lower courts in Zubik v. Burwell, the HHS contraceptive mandate case of which the University is a plaintiff.
The Court is returning the cases to the circuit courts that last considered them. In doing so, the Court encouraged the parties to negotiate an accommodation that might eliminate the need for further litigation, asking the lower courts to “allow the parties sufficient time to resolve any outstanding issues between them.” The Court had taken the unusual step of asking the parties for supplemental briefs after the March oral arguments on the case.
“I am pleased that Supreme Court has offered us a way forward which doesn’t require us to participate in the provision of the services which we find to be morally objectionable,” said President John Garvey. “We will move forward in our conversations with government officials with the sincere hope that our religious exemption, as well as that of our co-plaintiffs, is ensured.”