Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. is a for-profit Christian publishing company with 260 full-time employees. It provides them with health insurance through a self-insured health plan that omits coverage of abortions and of drugs (e.g., Plan B or ella) or devices (e.g.,intrauterine devices) that can cause the demise of an already conceived or fertilized human embryo. Tyndale is 96.5 percent owned by the Tyndale House Foundation: a nonprofit religious entity that distributes profits to various charities; the Tyndale Trust, which holds 84 percent of the voting shares; and two trusts benefiting the founder's widow and children. All adopted identical statements of faith and agreed to the same health plan limitations. The Tyndale plaintiffs alleged that the contraceptive coverage mandate violated their beliefs and rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and First and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
Standing EstablishedTyndale's first challenge was to establish standing. Without deciding whether for-profit corporations can exercise religion within the meaning of RFRA and the Free Exercise Clause, the court determined that, because Tyndale as a closely-held corporation that "'does not present any free exercise...
