Right image – Wikimedia Commons: Coat of arms of the Diocese of Bismarck
A US federal judge has ruled that a law obliging Catholic businesses to accommodate employee abortions violates religious freedom.
Over 9,000 Catholic employers were threatened by the Pregnant Workers Act which obliged them to make accommodations, including for abortion and fertility treatments.
However, the Catholic Diocese of Bismarck and the Catholic Benefits Association sued the Employment Opportunity Commission, arguing that its regulations “ran roughshod” over their religious freedoms by forcing them, “contrary to their Catholic faith, to accommodate their employees’ abortions and immoral fertility treatments”.
US District Judge Daniel Traynor has since issued a permanent block on the Act, agreeing that the case brought against the Commission was merited.
Judge Traynor wrote: “It is a precarious time for people of religious faith in America. It has been described as a post-Christian age. One indication of this dire assessment may be the repeated illegal and unconstitutional administrative actions against one of the founding principles of our country, the free exercise of religion.”
Attorney Martin Nussbaum said on behalf of his Catholic clients that they were “very thankful to the federal judiciary for vindicating religious freedom rights… [and] for protecting the freedom of speech of Catholic organisations as well…
“One of the things that we’ve seen is an emerging practice on behalf of some of the federal administrations – we also see this in certain states – a desire not only to mandate immoral benefits but to impose speech codes that would be contrary to Catholic values.”
In the UK, the right to religious expression and free speech is also threatened. Buffer zones imposed around the country have already seen pro-life Christians arrested, charged and fined for praying silently near abortion facilities.
In Scotland, it may even be illegal to pray inside the home if the private residence is within a buffer zone. MSP Gillian Mackay, the author of the Scottish law, admitted that it might be illegal to pray at home “depending on who passes the window”.
A similar law is also in force in Northern Ireland, where one Christian woman, Claire Brennan, was recently prosecuted for kneeling in prayer inside a buffer zone.
In England and Wales, Adam Smith-Connor, an army veteran, was found guilty of praying for his dead son near an abortion clinic. He will appeal his conviction later this year.
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