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Catholic Charities and Birth ControlFrom: Dr. Ainsworth (ainsron@sbcglobal.net)Tue Mar 2 16:19:24 2004
Court: Catholic Charities Must Provide Birth Control POSTED: 11:32 am PST March 1, 2004 UPDATED: 11:36 am PST March 1, 2004 SAN FRANCISCO -- A Catholic charitable organization must include birth control coverage in its health care plan for workers even though the nonprofit is morally opposed to contraception, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday. The 6-1 ruling could reach far beyond the 183 full-time charity employees and affect thousands of workers at Catholic hospitals and other church-backed institutes throughout the state. The high court said Catholic Charities is no different than other businesses in California, which is one of 20 states that require company-provided health plans to include contraception coverage. In California, "religious employers" such as churches are exempt from the requirement. The charity doesn't offer insurance to pay for birth control because it follows Roman Catholic Church dogma, which considers contraception a sin. The charity argued unsuccessfully that it should be exempted from state law along with the church. The Supreme Court ruled that the charity is not a religious employer because it offers such secular services as counseling, low-income housing and immigration services to the public without directly preaching about Catholic values. The court also noted that the charity employs workers of differing religions. "Moreover, Catholic Charities serves people of all faith backgrounds, a significant majority of ÛwhomÝ do not share ÛitsÝ Roman Catholic faith," Justice Joyce Werdegar wrote for the majority opinion. Justice Janice Rogers Brown dissented, writing that the Legislature's definition of a "religious employer" is too limiting if excludes faith-based nonprofit groups like Catholic Charities. "Here we are dealing with an intentional, purposeful intrusion into a religious organization's expression of it religious tenets and sense of mission," Brown wrote. "The government is no accidentally or incidentally interfering with religious practice; it is doing so willfully by making a judgment about what is or is not a religion." Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed
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