On August 22, 2012, Triune Health Group, Inc. filed this lawsuit in the Northern District of Illinois against the US Department of Health and Human Services, under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. The plaintiffs, represented by the Jubilee Campaign the Thomas More Society and private counsel, sought to enjoin enforcement of provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) extending universal contraception coverage in employer-sponsored private health insurance coverage. Plaintiffs contend that this mandatory contraception coverage violated their sincerely held religious beliefs under the First Amendment and state constitutional laws.
On January 3, 2013, Judge Amy St. Eve granted a preliminary injunction stopping HHS from enforcing the contraception mandate until the court determined the merits of the plaintiffs' case and if further injunctive relief was needed. The defendants appealed the preliminary injunction to the Seventh Circuit (No. 13-1478). On March 14, 2013, Seventh Circuit Judge John Tinder stayed the appeal pending resolution of the appeal in a related case,
Korte v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. On April 2, 2013, the District Court stayed its proceedings in this case until the Seventh Circuit issued a decision in
Korte and
Grote v. Sebelius.
On September 4, 2014, the defendants voluntarily dismissed their appeal of the preliminary injunction following the Supreme Court's ruling in
Burwell v. Hobby Lobby. Shortly thereafter, the defendants' proposed a final injunction order in the District Court enjoining the defendants from enforcing the contraceptive coverage requirement against the plaintiffs. On July 22, 2015, the plaintiffs filed a response to this proposed order, objecting that the defendants' proposed order did not protect their religious liberty as thoroughly as the preliminary injunction had, and that the defendants had not sought their input in crafting the new proposed final order. The plaintiffs asked that the court issue a final injunction consistent with the preliminary injunction's broad exemption of the plaintiffs from providing any contraceptives or other health services they found morally objectionable.
On March 30, 2016, Judge Andrea Wood denied the defendants' motion to enter a final injunction and dismiss the suit. The court requested that the parties brief several remaining issues, including whether the case would be stayed pending further litigation in other cases addressing the scope of the
Hobby Lobby decision, and whether the plaintiffs' claims were mooted by new changes to the ACA regulations. On May 23, 2016, the plaintiffs filed a motion requesting that the court issue "forceful guidance" to the defendants, directing them to agree to a final order with broad protections for their religious liberties. The defendants replied with a motion to dismiss on December 1, 2017, arguing their new regulations provided adequate procedures for the plaintiffs to maintain exemptions from contraceptive care requirements.
The plaintiffs' counsel subsequently failed to appear for a scheduled hearing on May 10, 2018. The plaintiffs were then granted an extension to file a response to the defendants' motion to dismiss.
The court finally granted the defendants' motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction on March 22, 2019. After the judgment was entered, the plaintiffs filed for an extension to file a fee petition on June 26, 2019. Plaintiffs counsel then failed to appear at two status conferences, one on August 7 and one on September 4. The plaintiff then filed another extension to file a fee petition as well as an amendment to their extension. Judge Wood took the motions under advisement but cancelled the upcoming motion hearing on December 11, 2019. Since then, there have been no additional entries in the docket and the case is presumed closed.
Wyatt Fore - 03/22/2013
Richard Jolly - 04/12/2014
Kate Craddock - 02/20/2016
Nathaniel Flack - 11/10/2018
Alex Moody - 04/21/2020
compress summary
