Constitutionality of Religious Restrictions on the Use of Federal Funds

Federal statutory provisions and regulations that restrict federal funding based on either the religious status of a program provider or anticipated religious uses of the funds are not required under the Establishment Clause.

Because the statutory and regulatory religious restrictions applicable to programs administered by the Department of Health and Human Services discriminate based on anticipated religious use without any compelling governmental interest, they violate the Free Exercise Clause. Use-based religious restrictions on generally available federal funding programs are presumptively unconstitutional.