MA v. U.S. DEPT. OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES

No. 18-1514.

923 F.3d 209 (2019)

Commonwealth of MASSACHUSETTS, Plaintiff, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES; Alex Michael Azar II, in his official capacity as Secretary of Health and Human Services; United States Department of the Treasury; Steven T. Mnuchin, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Treasury; United States Department of Labor; R. Alexander Acosta, in his official capacity as Secretary of Labor, Defendants, Appellees.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

May 2, 2019.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Julia E. Kobick , Assistant Attorney General, with whom Maura Healey , Attorney General of Massachusetts, Jon Burke , Assistant Attorney General, Jonathan B. Miller , Assistant Attorney General, and Elizabeth Carnes Flynn , Special Assistant Attorney General, were on brief, for appellant.

Allan J. Arffa , New York, NY, Crystal Johnson , Washington, DC, Elizabeth J. Grossman , Melina M. Meneguin Layerenza , New York, NY, and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP on brief for amici curiae Planned Parenthood Federation of America, National Health Law Program, and National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association.

Michael J. Fischer , Chief Deputy Attorney General, Josh Shapiro , Attorney General Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Jonathan Scott Goldman , Executive Deputy Attorney General, Aimee D. Thomson , Deputy Attorney General, Xavier Becerra , Attorney General of California, George Jepsen , Attorney General of Connecticut, Matthew P. Denn , Attorney General of Delaware, Karl A. Racine , Attorney General for the District of Columbia, Russell A. Suzuki , Attorney General of Hawai'i, Thomas J. Miller , Attorney General of Iowa, Janet T. Mills , Attorney General of Maine, Brian E. Frosh , Attorney General of Maryland, Lori Swanson , Attorney General of Minnesota, Barbara D. Underwood , Attorney General of New York, Joshua H. Stein , Attorney General of North Carolina, Ellen F. Rosenblum , Attorney General of Oregon, Peter F. Kilmartin , Attorney General of Rhode Island, Thomas J. Donovan, Jr. , Attorney General of Vermont, Mark R. Herring , Attorney General of Virginia, and Robert W. Ferguson , Attorney General of Washington, on brief for amici curiae Pennsylvania, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawai'i, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.

Erin Bernstein , Supervising Deputy City Attorney, City of Oakland, Laura S. Trice , Lead Deputy County Counsel, Barbara J. Parker , City Attorney, Maria Bee , Attorney, Malia McPherson , Attorney, on brief for amici curiae the City of Oakland, California. Laura S. Trice , Lead Deputy County Counsel, County of Santa Clara, James R. Williams , County Counsel, Greta S. Hansen , Attorney, Adriana L. Benedict , Attorney, on brief for amici curiae the County of Santa Clara, California. Andre M. Davis , City Solicitor, City of Baltimore, Kimberly M. Foxx , State's Attorney for Cook County, Michael N. Feuer , City Attorney of the City of Los Angeles, Charles J. McKee , County Counsel, County of Monterey, William Litt , Deputy County Counsel, County of Monterey, Zachary W. Carter , Corporation Counsel, City of New York, Marcel S. Pratt , City Solicitor, City of Philadelphia Law Department, Dennis J. Herrera , City Attorney, City and County of San Francisco, Peter S. Holmes , Seattle City Attorney, Francis X. Wright, Jr. , City Solicitor, City of Somerville, Michael Jenkins , City Attorney, City of West Hollywood, on brief for amici curiae 13 Cities, Counties, and Local Agencies.

Christopher Escobedo Hart , Emily J. Nash , Boston, MA, and Foley Hoag LLP on brief for amicus curiae Public Health Scholars.

Jamie A. Levitt , Rhiannon N. Batchelder and Morrison & Foerster LLP, New York, NY, on brief for amici curiae American Association of University Women, Service Employees International Union, and 12 Additional Professional, Labor, and Student Associations.

Diana Kasdan , New York, NY, Center for Reproductive Rights, and Jon M. Greenbaum , Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Washington, DC, on brief for amici curiae Center for Reproductive Rights, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, California Women's Law Center, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice, Legal Momentum, Legal Voice, Mississippi Justice Center for Justice, National Center for Lesbian Rights, Women's Law Project.

Jessie J. Rossman , Matthew R. Segal , ACLU Foundation of Massachusetts, Inc., Brigitte Amiri , ACLU Foundation of New York, Kate R. Cook , and Sugarman Rogers , on brief for amici curiae American Civil Liberties Union, American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, Anti-Defamation League, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, and National Urban League.

M. Duncan Grant , Benjamin J. Eichel , Philadelphia, PA, and Pepper Hamilton LLP, on brief for amici curiae The Guttmacher Institute.

Naomi D. Barrowclough , Roseland, NJ, Jeffrey Blumenfeld , Washington, DC, Lowenstein Sandler LLP, Fatima Goss Graves , Gretchen Borchelt , Washington, DC, Sunu Chandy , New York, NY, Michelle Banker , National Women's Law Center, Washington, DC, Sequoia Ayala , Jill Heaviside , Sisterlove, Inc., Jane Liu , National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, on brief for amici curiae National Women's Law Center, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, Sisterlove, Inc., and National Asian Pacific Women's Forum.

Bruce H. Schneider , Michele L. Pahmer , Gilana Keller , and Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP, New York, NY, on brief for amici curiae the Health Professional Organizations, American Nurses Association, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Academy of Nursing, American Academy of Pediatrics, and Physicians for Reproductive Health.

Ernest A. Young , Austin, TX, on brief for amicus curiae Professor Ernest A. Young.

Karen Schoen , Attorney, Appellate Staff, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice, with whom Joseph H. Hunt , Assistant Attorney General, Andrew E. Lelling , United States Attorney, Hashim M. Mooppan , Deputy Assistant Attorney General, and Sharon Swingle , Attorney, Appellate Staff, were on brief, for appellees.

Before Torruella, Lynch, and Thompson, Circuit Judges.


The Commonwealth of Massachusetts brought suit on October 6, 2017, to enjoin the enforcement of two federal Interim Final Rules (together, the "IFRs") promulgated by the United States Departments of Health and Human Services ("HHS"), Labor, and the...

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