Mayor and City Council of Baltimore v. Alex M. Azar II (District of Maryland, 2019); City and County of San Francisco v. Alex M. Azar II (Northern District of California, 2019)

At issue in these cases is a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Rule that creates an overly broad and preferential religious exemption for healthcare employees, contractors and volunteers. The Rule effectively provides these individuals who have religious objections to certain medical procedures, including abortion or sterilization, with the right to hinder or even block a hospital from performing such procedures. ADL’s briefs filed on behalf of religious and civil rights organizations assert that the Rule violates the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause because it harms patients and other third parties, and it prefers particular religious beliefs over others.