Catholic organizations may be forced to provide medical coverage for contraception
By Erick Rommel
Head Staff Writer
Just as the New Jersey General Assembly moves closer to requiring state employers to provide group health insurance coverage for contraceptives, the U.S. Supreme Court has turned back the appeal of a California Supreme Court decision which says that a Catholic group must provide coverage for birth control, even though its use is contrary to Church teachings.
Both the New Jersey bill and the California law include what is known as a limited conscience clause, which allows a church or a school that is controlled, operated or principally supported by a church to not provide those benefits on the basis that it conflicts with the religious employers’ beliefs and practices. Because it’s a limited clause, church ministries such as Catholic Charities and Catholic hospitals are not excluded and would be required to provide the coverage.
“We oppose [the bill] because it represents an unprecedented assault upon the religious freedom rights of churches in general and the Catholic Church in particular,” said William F. Bolan, Jr. and Father Joseph Kukura in a statement. Both testified before the New Jersey Assembly Health and Human Services Committee Oct. 4.
Bolan is executive director of the New Jersey Catholic Conference. Father Kukura is executive director of the Catholic HealthCare Partnership of New Jersey, which represents all 15 Catholic hospitals in the state.
Bolan and Father Kukura support a version of the bill that was not sent to the full assembly which contained a complete conscience clause.
“Although an extremely undesirable option, enactment of a mandated contraceptive benefit with a limited conscience clause could force us to cancel prescription drug coverage for employees of these organizations,” they said. “If this kind of amendment became law, it is difficult to imagine any restraint upon the state’s ability to require religious institutions to violate the principal tenets of our faith.
Similar concerns are the reason why the California Catholic Conference challenged a state high court ruling that church organizations and hospitals can not opt-out of providing coverage.
“If the state of California can coerce Catholic agencies to pay for contraceptives, it can force them to pay for abortions,” said attorney Kevin Baine during discussion before the high court about that ruling.
Writing for the California Supreme Court last spring, Justice Kathryn Werdegar said that Catholic Charities is not exempt because the majority of people it serves are not Catholic.
By refusing to hear the appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court is leaving the issue for the state to resolve.
“California is just one court case away from requiring employers, even churches to cover abortions in their health insurance policies,” said Jan Carroll of the California Pro-Life Council.
If the California and New Jersey plans become law, the states will join 20 others that require birth control and contraception coverage in all employee health plans.
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law