Filed Date: Nov. 7, 2016
Case Ongoing
Clearinghouse coding complete
On November 7, 2016, the State of North Dakota, joined by the Religious Sisters of Mercy, two Sacred Heart Mercy Health Care Center clinics, the SMP Health System, and the University of Mary, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) challenging a federal regulation that they argued compelled healthcare professionals to cast aside their medical judgment and religious beliefs and perform medical transition procedures on patients who desire to have a sex change. Plaintiffs, who brought suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota Eastern Division, specifically claimed that it was a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act and other federal laws for HHS to redefine the term “sex” in Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act from meaning “a person’s biological sex at birth” to meaning “an individual’s internal sense of gender.”
This case was later consolidated with another case having similar aspects of law and fact on January 23, 2017, adding several more Catholic associations as plaintiffs, including the Catholic Benefits Association (CBA), as well as adding the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as a defendant. Plaintiffs sought (1) a declarative judgment stating the regulation is invalid under the Administrative Procedure Act, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the Spending Clause, and the First, Fifth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Fourteenth Amendments, (2) a permanent injunction preventing the enforcement of the regulation, and (3) attorneys costs and fees. This case was assigned to Magistrate Judge Alice R. Senechal and District Judge Ralph R. Erickson, and then later reassigned to Chief Judge Daniel L. Hovland, and then Chief Judge Peter D. Welte.
Plaintiffs filed a motion for a preliminary injunction on November 17, 2016. On December 31, 2016, a federal district court in Texas issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against the same HHS regulations the Plaintiffs challenged here, preventing its enforcement. See Franciscan Alliance, Inc. v. Burwell.
On May 26, 2017, Defendants filed a voluntary motion to stay and a motion to remand so that HHS could take another look at the regulation in light of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act to consider the regulation’s reasonableness, necessity, and efficacy. As a response, Plaintiffs also filed a motion for an additional stay of enforcement by the EEOC. On August 24, 2017, Judge Hovland granted the defendants’ motion to stay and denied the motion to remand as moot, seeing as HHS had the inherent authority to reconsider the rule regardless of a remand. At this point, the nationwide preliminary injunction remained in effect and litigation was stayed to allow HHS to reconsider the controversial rules and regulations at issue.
After the Franciscan Alliance court granted summary judgment for the plaintiffs and ordered the regulation to be vacated “insofar as [it] defines ‘[o]n the basis of sex’ to include gender identity and termination of pregnancy” in October 2019, HHS issued a new Section 1557 rule on June 12, 2020. This rule defined “sex” by referencing Title IX, and did not include a “religious exemption, whether narrow or broad.” In response to these developments, Plaintiffs here filed an unopposed motion to lift the stay in order to amend their complaint and proceed with litigation, which was granted on November 9, 2020.
In their amended complaint filed on November 23, 2020, the plaintiffs contested the new HHS rule based on the idea that Title IX does not apply to covered entities “controlled by a religious organization if the application of this subsection would not be consistent with the religious tenets of such organization,” and the limited definition of “sex” at the time Title IX was enacted. Plaintiffs then filed a motion for declaratory judgment and a motion for partial summary judgment or, in the alternative, a preliminary injunction on November 23, 2020. The defendants also filed a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction on December 23, 2020.
On January 19, 2021, Chief Judge Welte granted in part and denied in part the motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. The court claimed jurisdiction over the Plaintiffs’ RFRA and Spending Clause claims challenging the interpretations of Section 1557 and Title VII that compel them to perform and provide insurance coverage for gender transitions, but called for the dismissal of the abortion-related claims, the APA claims, and the claims challenging Title IX and other unidentified federal laws. The Plaintiffs’ motions for partial summary judgment and injunctive relief were granted as to the RFRA claims that challenged the interpretations of Section 1557 and Title VII requiring the Plaintiffs to perform and provide insurance coverage for gender-transition procedures, but denied in all other respects. Chief Judge Welte also declared that HHS’s interpretation of Section 1557 and EEOC’s interpretation of Title VII violated Plaintiff's sincerely held religious beliefs without satisfying strict scrutiny under the RFRA. As such, Chief Judge Welte permanently enjoined HHS and EEOC from implementing any regulations and interpreting Section 1557 of the ACA and Title VII in a way that would require the Catholic Plaintiffs to perform or provide insurance coverage for gender-transition procedures, including by denying federal financial assistance because of their failure to perform or provide insurance coverage for such procedures, or by otherwise pursuing, charging, or assessing any penalties, fines, assessments, investigations, or other enforcement actions. 513 F.Supp.3d 1113.
The defendants then appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on April 20, 2021. (21-1890). On December 9, 2022, the Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of permanent injunctive relief to the plaintiffs except to the extent it recognized the associational standing of the CBA. The Eighth Circuit held that CBA failed to identify association members who suffered the requisite harm, meaning that CBA lacked associational standing to sue on behalf of unnamed members. The case was remanded to the district court for further proceedings consistent with the appellate opinion. 55 F.4th 583.
This case is still ongoing.
Summary Authors
Kathleen Lok (12/12/2022)
Franciscan Alliance, LLC v. Burwell, Northern District of Texas (2016)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4517035/parties/north-dakota-state-of-v-burwell/
Aden, Steven H. (North Dakota)
Abdo, Alexander Abraham (North Dakota)
Abdo, Alex (North Dakota)
Amezquita, Hope Renee (North Dakota)
Amiri, Brigitte (North Dakota)
Aden, Steven H. (North Dakota)
Bahr, Douglas Alan (North Dakota)
Bailey, Terri Hearn (North Dakota)
Baran, Andrea G. (North Dakota)
Barclay, Stephanie H. (North Dakota)
Boehringer, Maria Kate (North Dakota)
Bowman, Matthew S. (North Dakota)
Chandy, Sunu P. (North Dakota)
Cohen, Ethan M.M. (North Dakota)
Cooper, Cheryl A. (North Dakota)
Cruz, Kimberly A. (North Dakota)
Curtin, Nora E. (North Dakota)
DeCamp, Aaron R. (North Dakota)
Dreilinger, Lauren Gayle (North Dakota)
Drieband, Eric S. (North Dakota)
Edwards, Darryl L (North Dakota)
Farrell, Michael J. (North Dakota)
Feldman, Laura R. (North Dakota)
Foslid, Kristen Marie (North Dakota)
Franklin-Thomas, Delner (North Dakota)
Gillespie, Kenneth Lawrence (North Dakota)
Gochanour, Gregory M. (North Dakota)
Golson, Aarrin Benatra (North Dakota)
Gomez-Fernandez, Maritza I. (North Dakota)
Goodrich, Luke W. (North Dakota)
Greiff, Carla Johanna (North Dakota)
Gusewelle, Anne E. (North Dakota)
Hendrickson, John C. (North Dakota)
Huggins, Randall D (North Dakota)
Iversen, Tara V. (North Dakota)
Jimenez, Jessica L. (North Dakota)
Kasperson, Kaleb M. (North Dakota)
Kniffin, Eric N. (North Dakota)
Knott, Andrew Stephen (North Dakota)
Laura, Peter Francis (North Dakota)
Lawrence, Debra Michele (North Dakota)
Linakis, Michelle L. (North Dakota)
Martin, Rhett P. (North Dakota)
Martinez, Ana Consuelo (North Dakota)
Mattox, M. Casey (North Dakota)
McClinton, Gregory Lee (North Dakota)
McCoy, Kimberly Anne (North Dakota)
McCoy-Cruz, Kimberly A. (North Dakota)
Mulaire, Justin (North Dakota)
Nussbaum, L. Martin (North Dakota)
Nussbaum, Andrew (North Dakota)
Nyfeler, Suzanne L (North Dakota)
Peters, Kirsten J. (North Dakota)
Peterson, Melanie Marie (North Dakota)
Reams, Gwendolyn Y. (North Dakota)
Rienzi, Mark L. (North Dakota)
Rose, Robert D. (North Dakota)
Sagsveen, Matthew A. (North Dakota)
Seltzer, Daniel Lewis (North Dakota)
Smason, Diane Ilene (North Dakota)
Staudt, David J. (North Dakota)
Steenbergh, Rachael Suzanne (North Dakota)
Stenehjem, Wayne K. (North Dakota)
Szromba, Jeanne B. (North Dakota)
Theriot, Kevin H. (North Dakota)
Thompson, Eric S (North Dakota)
Thompson, Michael C (North Dakota)
Vail, Daniel Travis (North Dakota)
Walter, Nicholas Glen (North Dakota)
Weisberg, Robert E. (North Dakota)
Abdo, Alexander Abraham (North Dakota)
Amezquita, Hope Renee (North Dakota)
Amiri, Brigitte (North Dakota)
Arterburn, Jennifer (North Dakota)
AUSA, Christopher R (North Dakota)
AUSA, Melissa A. (North Dakota)
Balin, Robert D. (North Dakota)
Bamberger, Michael A. (North Dakota)
Bannon, Alicia Lorraine (North Dakota)
Bartelt, Leah A (North Dakota)
Batsides, Demetrios Christos (North Dakota)
Bennett, Michelle Renee (North Dakota)
Bentley, Elizabeth G. (North Dakota)
Berwick, Benjamin Leon (North Dakota)
Bickford, James O. (North Dakota)
Bildtsen, Ann M (North Dakota)
Bloch-Wehba, Hannah (North Dakota)
Block, Joshua Abraham (North Dakota)
Bowie, Courtney A (North Dakota)
Bressler, Steven Y. (North Dakota)
Bricker, Matthew J. (North Dakota)
Brock, Chad Michael (North Dakota)
Cagle, Matthew Thomas (North Dakota)
Castelli, Thomas H. (North Dakota)
Cavan, Timothy J. (North Dakota)
Chaiten, Lorie A. (North Dakota)
Cherry-DOJ, Mary M. (North Dakota)
Ching, Jennifer (North Dakota)
Choudhury, Nusrat Jahan (North Dakota)
Clark, Melanca Durham (North Dakota)
Cohn, Cindy Ann (North Dakota)
Cohn, Joseph S. (North Dakota)
Colangelo-Bryan, Joshua Nicholas (North Dakota)
Coll-Very, Alexis Susan (North Dakota)
Condon, Jennifer Brooke (North Dakota)
Cook, Jennifer J. (North Dakota)
Cooper, Daniel R. (North Dakota)
Cormier, Claire T. (North Dakota)
Costello, Sara E. (North Dakota)
Crane-Hirsch, Daniel Kadane (North Dakota)
Crump, Catherine Newby (North Dakota)
Dalven, Jennifer (North Dakota)
Diakun, Anna Natalia (North Dakota)
Diaz, Oliver E. (North Dakota)
DOJ, Michelle Bennett (North Dakota)
Driscoll, Jessica P. (North Dakota)
Dunn, Christopher T (North Dakota)
Eisenberg, Arthur Nelson (North Dakota)
Fabian, Sarah B (North Dakota)
Felix, Wesley D. (North Dakota)
Galler, Jonathan (North Dakota)
Gerding, Paul Sullivan (North Dakota)
Gill, Elizabeth O. (North Dakota)
Goddard, Darcy M. (North Dakota)
Goodman, Rachel (North Dakota)
Goodman, Melissa (North Dakota)
Gorski, Ashley Marie (North Dakota)
Guadagnino, Charles A (North Dakota)
Guarino, Gary M. (North Dakota)
Gutierrez, Sandra Ema (North Dakota)
Haddad, Richard Inad (North Dakota)
Hafetz, Jonathan L. (North Dakota)
Hall, Rahsaan D. (North Dakota)
Hall, Christopher R. (North Dakota)
Hambrick, Jonathan Holland (North Dakota)
Handeyside, Hugh (North Dakota)
Harlow, James W. (North Dakota)
Hauss, Brian Matthew (North Dakota)
Heald, Julia E. (North Dakota)
Heaps, Bailey W. (North Dakota)
Hearn, Marcellene Elizabeth (North Dakota)
Helvey, Kimberly E. (North Dakota)
Henderson, Brady R (North Dakota)
Hofmann, Marcia Clare (North Dakota)
Horvath, Jennifer (North Dakota)
Hu, Daniel David (North Dakota)
Huang, Lawrence (North Dakota)
Huerta, Alvaro M. (North Dakota)
Humphreys, Bradley (North Dakota)
Inactive, Ann Elizabeth (North Dakota)
Inactive, Michael A (North Dakota)
Kade, Elizabeth L. (North Dakota)
Karp, Meredith D. (North Dakota)
Kaufman, Brett Max (North Dakota)
Keaney, Melissa S. (North Dakota)
Kennedy, Brian G (North Dakota)
Kennedy, Thomas E. (North Dakota)
Kirk-Kazhe, Christina V. (North Dakota)
Kolbi-Molinas, Alexa Rebecca (North Dakota)
Kopplin, Rebecca Michelle (North Dakota)
Korobkin, Daniel (North Dakota)
Lambert, Marissa Paige (North Dakota)
Lantka, Peter Michael (North Dakota)
Lapidus, Lenora M. (North Dakota)
Lawrence, Matthew JB (North Dakota)
Lewis, Megan Elizabeth (North Dakota)
Lievense, Andrew J. (North Dakota)
Lindquist, Susan J. (North Dakota)
Llanso, Emma J. (North Dakota)
Loeb, Robert M. (North Dakota)
London, Ronald Gary (North Dakota)
Lowe, Marina B. (North Dakota)
Loy, John David (North Dakota)
Lustberg, Lawrence S. (North Dakota)
Mach, Daniel Irwin (North Dakota)
Mahoney, Kathleen Anne (North Dakota)
Manes, Jonathan Matthew (North Dakota)
Mann, Linton Mann (North Dakota)
Mantoan, Kathryn Grzenczyk (North Dakota)
Marshall, Randall C. (North Dakota)
Mass, Julia Harumi (North Dakota)
Mathews, Patrick Casey (North Dakota)
McGuire, David J. (North Dakota)
Mehta, Leslie Chambers (North Dakota)
Melling, Louise F. (North Dakota)
Merriweather-Tucker, Brooke A. (North Dakota)
Migdal, Ariela M. (North Dakota)
Moore, Christina Bahr (North Dakota)
Morris, John B. (North Dakota)
Munoz, Ana Isabel (North Dakota)
Myers, Steven A. (North Dakota)
Navarro, Heather B. (North Dakota)
Nestler, Emily B. (North Dakota)
Newell, Jennifer Chang (North Dakota)
Newton, Emily Sue (North Dakota)
O'Connor, Charles Michael (North Dakota)
Opsahl, Kurt Bradford (North Dakota)
Park, Sandra S. (North Dakota)
Parker, Dennis D. (North Dakota)
PHV, Lindsay Harrison (North Dakota)
PHV, Elliot Tarloff (North Dakota)
PHV, Brigitte A (North Dakota)
Plane, Margaret D. (North Dakota)
Pollack, Michael C (North Dakota)
Pomeroy, Richard L. (North Dakota)
Price, Matthew E. (North Dakota)
Rabinovitz, Judy (North Dakota)
Ravicher, Daniel (North Dakota)
Realmuto, Trina A. (North Dakota)
Reynolds, Echo Adrien (North Dakota)
Robinson, Stuart Justin (North Dakota)
Rocah, David Robert (North Dakota)
Rosberger, Richard Edward (North Dakota)
Ross, Michael W. (North Dakota)
Rossman, Jessie J. (North Dakota)
Rossman, Stuart T. (North Dakota)
Rothert, Anthony E. (North Dakota)
Ruzicka, Eric Andrew (North Dakota)
Schulz, David A. (North Dakota)
Schwartztol, Laurence Michael (North Dakota)
Services, United States (North Dakota)
Silverstein, Mark (North Dakota)
Sims, Charles S. (North Dakota)
Spurlock, Matthew Douglas (North Dakota)
Staub, Sandra J. (North Dakota)
Steinberg, Michael J. (North Dakota)
Sun, Christine Patricia (North Dakota)
Sweren-Becker, Eliza (North Dakota)
Theeler, Camela C. (North Dakota)
Thomas, James P. (North Dakota)
Toomey, Patrick Christopher (North Dakota)
Torrance, Benjamin Henry (North Dakota)
Tully, L. Danielle (North Dakota)
Tumlin, Karen C. (North Dakota)
Union, American Civil (North Dakota)
Villasenor, Juan (North Dakota)
Watson, Elizabeth K (North Dakota)
Weaver, Heather Lynn (North Dakota)
Weckenmann, Rose Michele (North Dakota)
Weinbeck, Michael P (North Dakota)
Wessler, Nathan Freed (North Dakota)
Weyher, Zachary J. (North Dakota)
Wishnie, Michael J. (North Dakota)
Wu, Elizabeth Catherine (North Dakota)
Youngs, Stuart Andrew (North Dakota)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4517035/north-dakota-state-of-v-burwell/
Last updated Jan. 31, 2025, 4:39 a.m.
State / Territory: North Dakota
Case Type(s):
Healthcare Access and Reproductive Issues
Special Collection(s):
Transgender Healthcare Access Cases
Key Dates
Filing Date: Nov. 7, 2016
Case Ongoing: Yes
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Plaintiffs include the State of North Dakota and several Catholic entities (the Religious Sisters of Mercy, two Sacred Heart Mercy Health Care Center clinics, the SMP Health System, the University of Mary, Diocese of Fargo, the Catholic Benefits Association, Catholic Medical Association, and the Catholic Charities North Dakota.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Non-profit religious organization
Attorney Organizations:
U.S. Dept. of Justice Civil Rights Division
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Federal
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Federal
Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Federal
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 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)
Ex Parte Young (Federal) or Bivens
Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 551 et seq.
Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2201
Constitutional Clause(s):
Available Documents:
Injunctive (or Injunctive-like) Relief
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Plaintiff
Nature of Relief:
Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement
Source of Relief:
Order Duration: 2021 - None
Issues
Benefits (Source):
Discrimination Basis:
EEOC-centric:
Private Suit Related / Consolidated with EEOC Suit
LGBTQ+: