The American Civil Liberties Union has been on a tear against the religious liberty of Catholic health care facilities. In a well-greased, coordinated campaign, the ACLU has made it a top priority to force Catholic hospitals to provide “services,” like abortion and sterilization, that violate Catholic moral teaching. But their efforts keep getting slapped down by the courts.
In the latest case, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on April 11 tossed the ACLU’s suit against Catholic non-profit Trinity Health Corporation. The ACLU was seeking to force Trinity Health, which operates 86 facilities in 21 states, to perform abortions. The court found that the “alleged harm” claimed by the ACLU was “speculative” at best, and thus “not ripe for review.”
Last January, San Francisco Superior Judge Ernest Goldsmith similarly dismissed the ACLU’s motion to force Mercy Medical Center in California to carry out sterilization procedures in violation of Catholic teaching.
