Law Commons^™

The Contraceptive Mandate: Compelling Interest Or Ideology?, Karen A. Jordan

Journal of Legislation

In the wake of the administrative rule requiring employee health benefit plans to cover contraceptive services, many employers are pursuing religious liberty claims against the federal government. In claims under the Religious Freedom Res- toration Act, a prima facie showing by a plaintiff that a federal law substantially burdens the exercise of religion shifts the burden to the government to justify the burden by showing that the law is the least restrictive means of advancing a compel- ling governmental interest. This article focuses on the compelling interest prong of the government's burden. The text of RFRA and judicial gloss make …