Filed Date: Aug. 6, 2014
Closed Date: 2014
Clearinghouse coding complete
On June 28, 2013, the United States Department of Health and Human Services issued a final rule concerning the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the "Mandate"). The regulations of the final rule required health insurance plans to provide coverage of abortifacients, with an accommodation for employee health plans by certain qualified religious organizations.
The Plaintiff is a non-profit Christian college affiliated with the Assemblies of God religious denomination. It was required under the accommodation provisions to sign and deliver a self-certification to a third party administrator, who could unilaterally choose to supply abortifacients in violation of the religious belief held by the college. Failure to comply with the Mandate would result in monetary fines that would cause a severe economic consequence to the college.
On August 6, 2014, the Plaintiff brought a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Labor and Department of the Treasury under the Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2201, and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (the "RFRA"). Represented by private counsel, the Plaintiff sought declaratory and injunctive relief as well as attorneys' fees, claiming that the Defendants violated the RFRA as well as the Free Exercise and Establishment clauses of the U.S. Constitution.
On October 20, 2014, the Plaintiff and the Defendants filed a Stipulation of Voluntary Dismissal of the case with prejudice against all Defendants. It is unknown whether the Plaintiff obtained any relief.
Summary Authors
Emma Bao (11/19/2014)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4371351/parties/valley-forge-christian-college-of-the-assemblies-of-god-v-burwell/
Abdoveis, Elaine M. (Pennsylvania)
Adebonojo, Kenneth A. (Pennsylvania)
Anderson, Caroline J. (Pennsylvania)
Anderson, Rafique O. (Pennsylvania)
ANDRAPALLIYAL, VINITA (Pennsylvania)
Abdoveis, Elaine M. (Pennsylvania)
Adebonojo, Kenneth A. (Pennsylvania)
Anderson, Caroline J. (Pennsylvania)
Anderson, Rafique O. (Pennsylvania)
ANDRAPALLIYAL, VINITA (Pennsylvania)
ASTORGA, BERTHA M. (Pennsylvania)
Barron, Graham L. (Pennsylvania)
Barron, Mark S. (Pennsylvania)
Beckenhauer, Eric B. (Pennsylvania)
Bell, Lauren Hash (Pennsylvania)
BENNETT, MICHELLE RENEE (Pennsylvania)
Bensing, Daniel Edward (Pennsylvania)
Bernie, Andrew Marshall (Pennsylvania)
Berns, Matthew Joseph (Pennsylvania)
Berry, Wayne R. (Pennsylvania)
Berwick, Benjamin Leon (District of Columbia)
Biro, Charles John (Pennsylvania)
Borum, Marian L. (Pennsylvania)
Braswell, Marina Utgoff (Pennsylvania)
Bressler, Steven Y. (Pennsylvania)
Brown, Walter Wayne (Pennsylvania)
BROWN, JESSICA RUSZKIEWICZ (Pennsylvania)
Buren, Maria Van (Pennsylvania)
Burnham, James Mahoney (Pennsylvania)
Cho, Cindy Jane (Pennsylvania)
Chung, Evelyn Hyun-Jung (Pennsylvania)
Clark, Andrew E. (Pennsylvania)
Cohen, Bradley Heath (Pennsylvania)
Cohen, Jason Todd (Pennsylvania)
Comber, Michael A. (Pennsylvania)
Crane-Hirsch, Daniel K. (Pennsylvania)
Cutini, Drake S. (Pennsylvania)
DAVIS, ETHAN PRICE (Pennsylvania)
Dawgert, Jessica (Pennsylvania)
Driscoll, Jessica P. (Pennsylvania)
Edelschick, Douglas G. (Pennsylvania)
Entwistle, Ann Frances (Pennsylvania)
EPSTEIN, MATTHEW R. (Pennsylvania)
Fagan, Shannon L. (Pennsylvania)
Farel, Lily Sara (Pennsylvania)
Field, Brian J. (Pennsylvania)
Fields, Rhonda C. (Pennsylvania)
FORNEY, GEOFFREY (Pennsylvania)
Girdharry, Glenn M. (Pennsylvania)
Glass, David Michael (Pennsylvania)
Gostin, Kieran Gavin (Pennsylvania)
Greene, Anna Tucker (Pennsylvania)
GROGG, ADAM ANDERSON (Pennsylvania)
Gunder, Jessica R. (Pennsylvania)
Gural, Roger Joseph (Pennsylvania)
Halainen, Daniel J. (Pennsylvania)
Hall, Christopher R. (Pennsylvania)
Hammond, Derek S. (Pennsylvania)
Harlow, James William (Pennsylvania)
Haynes, Fred Elmore (Pennsylvania)
HECKER, A. SCOTT (Pennsylvania)
Hendry, Melanie Dyani (Pennsylvania)
Herrmann, Heide L. (Pennsylvania)
Hoang, Anthony P. (Pennsylvania)
Hobbs, Jodeen Marie (Pennsylvania)
Hostetler, Eric G. (Pennsylvania)
Humphreys, Bradley P. (Pennsylvania)
Johnson, Wyneva (Pennsylvania)
Kade, Elizabeth L. (Pennsylvania)
KARONIS, ANDREW (Pennsylvania)
KATZ, ANDREW MICHAEL (Pennsylvania)
Kell, Gerald Cooper (Pennsylvania)
Kennedy, Brian G. (Pennsylvania)
Kidwell, Judith A. (Pennsylvania)
Kishore, Deepthy (Pennsylvania)
Kolsky, Joshua M. (Pennsylvania)
LaCour, Alice Shih (Pennsylvania)
Lawrence, Matthew J.B. (Pennsylvania)
Leary, Peter Decklin (Pennsylvania)
Lee, Lynn Yuhee (Pennsylvania)
Leong, Katherine (Pennsylvania)
Littleton, Judson Owen (Pennsylvania)
LUBY, ANDREA C. (Pennsylvania)
Lynch, Jason C. (Pennsylvania)
Marcus, Lisa Zeidner (Pennsylvania)
Marinelli, Matthew M. (Pennsylvania)
McBarnette, Andrea (Pennsylvania)
McCracken, John Matthew (Pennsylvania)
McElvain, Joel L. (Pennsylvania)
Merritt, R. Charlie (Pennsylvania)
Moore, Tamra Tyree (Pennsylvania)
Morgan, Sherri L. (Pennsylvania)
Morgan, Keith V. (Pennsylvania)
Myers, Steven A. (Pennsylvania)
Nebeker, William Mark (Pennsylvania)
Nelson, James T. (Pennsylvania)
Newton, Emily Sue (Pennsylvania)
Nocito, John A. (Pennsylvania)
Nolan, Andrew L. (Pennsylvania)
Orloff, Serena Maya (Pennsylvania)
Palmer-Ball, Katherine Boyd (Pennsylvania)
Patil, Chetan A. (Pennsylvania)
Peterson, Benton Gregory (Pennsylvania)
Pfaffenroth, Peter C. (Pennsylvania)
Phillips, Ashton S. (Pennsylvania)
Phipps, Peter J. (Pennsylvania)
Posner, Michael Benjamin (Pennsylvania)
Powers, James R. (Pennsylvania)
Prober, Bonnie J. (Pennsylvania)
Robinson, Stuart Justin (Pennsylvania)
RODENHAUSEN, PATRICIA M. (Pennsylvania)
Rogers, Joshua L. (Pennsylvania)
Rudolph, Maureen Elizabeth (Pennsylvania)
Rybicki, David Cotter (Pennsylvania)
Saltman, Julie Shana (Pennsylvania)
Schaefer, Daniel Patrick (Pennsylvania)
Schollaert, Albert W. (Pennsylvania)
Seabrook, April Denise (Pennsylvania)
Seifert, Karen Patricia (Pennsylvania)
Serafin, Francine Aurora (Pennsylvania)
Sherman, Michael Jeffrey (Pennsylvania)
Shoaibi, Alexander Daniel (Pennsylvania)
Simon, Jeremy S. (Pennsylvania)
Simpson, W. Scott (Pennsylvania)
Siple, Adam Christopher (Pennsylvania)
Sokolower, Heather G. (Pennsylvania)
STRAWN, JOHN M. (Pennsylvania)
Sverdlov, Alexander V. (Pennsylvania)
Taaffe, Damon William (Pennsylvania)
Tepe, Sean Michael (Pennsylvania)
Thorp, Galen Nicholas (Pennsylvania)
Thurston, Robin Frances (Pennsylvania)
Truong, John Cuong (Pennsylvania)
Walker, Johnny Hillary (Pennsylvania)
Wallack, Carol L. (Pennsylvania)
Wechsler, Peter T. (Pennsylvania)
WEEKLEY, JENNIFER D. (Pennsylvania)
Weinstein, Laurie J. (Pennsylvania)
Westfall, Elizabeth Stewart (Pennsylvania)
Whitaker, Claire M. (Pennsylvania)
WILSON, SARAH S. (Pennsylvania)
Wolverton, Caroline Lewis (Pennsylvania)
Womack, Eric R. (Pennsylvania)
Woods, Shelese M. (Pennsylvania)
Yee, Marsha Wellknown (Pennsylvania)
Young, Danielle Wolfson (Pennsylvania)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4371351/valley-forge-christian-college-of-the-assemblies-of-god-v-burwell/
Last updated April 21, 2025, 8:15 a.m.
State / Territory: Pennsylvania
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Contraception Insurance Mandate
Key Dates
Filing Date: Aug. 6, 2014
Closing Date: 2014
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
A Christian college, a non-profit organization affiliated with the Assemblies of God religious denomination, required to provide insurance plans that include abortifacients through the accommodation provisions under the ACA regulations, in violation of its religious belief.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Non-profit religious organization
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Federal
U.S. Department of Labor, Federal
U.S. Department of the Treasury, Federal
Defendant Type(s):
Facility Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Religious Freedom Rest. Act/Religious Land Use and Inst. Persons Act (RFRA/RLUIPA)
Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2201
Constitutional Clause(s):
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Unknown
Nature of Relief:
Source of Relief:
Form of Settlement:
Issues
Reproductive rights: