The Roman Catholic Bishops of New York State filed a lawsuit today against New York State for mandating religious institutions to provide prescription contraceptives for their employees.
Catholic League president William Donohue strongly supports the lawsuit and explains why:
“New York State legislators are to blame for this lawsuit. Had they acceded to the requests of Catholic bishops to allow an exemption for religious institutions that object to prescription contraceptives, no court action would have been necessary. Now it will be up to the judiciary to uphold the First Amendment right of Catholic institutions to exercise their religious liberty options.
“What is driving this issue is not contraception—it’s abortion. The abortion industry has no more use for the Catholic Church than it has for innocent babies. What it wants is for the state to impose the will of abortionists on the Catholic Church. It deplores diversity and has no respect for the First Amendment right to religious liberty. From the beginning, the abortion movement in this country has been expressly anti-Catholic and this latest issue is just one more example of its zealotry.
“The Catholic League stands with the bishops in fighting for the right of Catholic entities to exercise their doctrinal prerogatives free from the heavy hand of the state. Just as it would be wrong for a religious institution to determine health-care standards for state employees, it is equally wrong for the state to decide such standards for religious institutions. We look to the courts to remedy this situation without delay.”
