Dating back to 2017, a coalition of Anglican and Catholic nuns, Catholic dioceses, Christian churches, and other faith-based social ministries have been fighting in court against a New York state mandate that requires them to violate their religious beliefs and cover the costs of abortions obtained by their employees.

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated a ruling that upheld the challenged mandate and ordered the lower courts in New York to reconsider the case in light of a separate but similar case that was decided unanimously last week, the Daily Wire reported.

The order has been hailed as nothing short of a victory in the seemingly never-ending battle against predominantly Democrat-led states using bullying tactics to force religious individuals and organizations to disregard or undermine their sincerely held beliefs.

New York's abortion coverage mandate

LifeNews reported that the coalition of Catholics and Christians in New York filed a lawsuit in 2017 against the state's mandate that they pay for employees' abortions, only to have the courts in the state rule against them and uphold the mandate.

Initially, the mandate allowed for an exception for those with sincerely held pro-life beliefs, but under pressure from pro-abortion activists, the exception was narrowed to only apply to those who taught or served those who held the same religious beliefs, but not those who taught or served everyone regardless of their faith or lack thereof.

In 2021, the Supreme Court reversed those rulings and ordered the lower court's reconsideration in light of its unanimous decision at that time in favor of the First Amendment and religious liberty in the case of Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, but the lower courts essentially ignored that order and claimed that Fulton's precedent was inapplicable.

SCOTUS vacates and remands

That disputed ruling from the lower courts prompted a years-long march to return to the Supreme Court and, now, a repeat of that initial order from several years ago.

In Monday's Order List, in the case of Diocese of Albany v. Harris, the high court stated, "The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted. The judgment is vacated, and the case is remanded to the Court of Appeals of New York for further consideration in light of Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. v. Wisconsin Labor & Industry Review Comm’n."

In the Catholic Charities case in Wisconsin that was decided unanimously last week, which dealt with an unequally applied unemployment tax on religious organizations, the court ruled that states couldn't discriminate among said religious organizations with unequal treatment.

Victory is at hand

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a non-profit law firm that represents the plaintiffs and was also involved in the Fulton and Catholic Charities cases, cheered Monday's order as all but guaranteeing a win for First Amendment-protected religious rights -- assuming the lower courts actually adhere to the Supreme Court's other precedents instead of ignoring them again.

LifeNews reported that Becket's vice president and senior counsel, Eric Baxter, said in a statement, "New York wants to browbeat nuns into paying for abortions for the great crime of serving all those in need."

"For the second time in four years, the Supreme Court has made clear that bully tactics like these have no place in our nation or our law," he added. "We are confident that these religious groups will finally be able to care for the most vulnerable consistent with their beliefs."

Joining Becket in representing the plaintiffs was the Jones Day law firm, and that firm's Washington, D.C. partner-in-charge, former U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco, said of Monday's order, "Religious groups in the Empire State should not be forced to provide insurance coverage that violates their deeply held religious beliefs."

He added, "We are confident that New York will finally get the message and stop discriminating against religious objectors."