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Got a problem with religious freedom? Redefine religious.
The Supreme Court yesterday refused to hear an appeal by Catholic Charities of Sacramento in which the organization asked to be exempt from a law forcing non religious employers to include birth control in health benefits. The Charities said forcing them to pay for contraception would conflict with church teaching and would violate the First Amendment, which allows the free exercise of religious beliefs.

"If the state of California can coerce Catholic agencies to pay for contraceptives, it can force them to pay for abortions,'' said Charities attorney Kevin Baine.

In March, the California Supreme Court also ruled against Catholic Charities, saying the ministry was not a religious employer because most of its employees are not Catholic and its services—counseling, low-income housing, and immigration services—are secular.

After that ruling, Ned Dolejsi, executive director of the California Catholic Conference, said, "This case was never about contraceptives. … It was about our ability to practice our religion—providing food, clothing, and shelter to the neediest among us—as a religious organization which is part of the Catholic Church."

The California Catholic Charities and the California Catholic Conference have yet to comment on the decision. Planned Parenthood and the ACLU applauded it.

Pro-life groups worry that states will soon force religious organizations such as hospitals and schools to pay for abortions. "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.

But, the state argued that Catholic Charities was not a religious organization, even though it described itself as an "organ" of the church. According to the state, a religious employer is one that 1) inculcates religious values, 2) primarily employs people of the same beliefs, 3) primarily serves people of the same beliefs, and 4) is organized as a non profit. The California Supreme Court decided, "Catholic Charities does not qualify as a "religious employer" under the WCEA [Women's Contraception Equity Act] because it does not meet any of the definition's four criteria."

California's Women's Contraception Equity Act forced insurers to pay for contraception following the widespread inclusion of Viagra on insurance plans soon after its release on the market.

By the Court's decision, it affirms the state's ability to define religious. So, look out if your beliefs tell you to do anything other than minister to people who already share your beliefs. Promoting justice, as Catholic Charities explained its purpose, is a secular task.

Moore's last chance denied
The Supreme Court also refused to hear Alabama Judge Roy Moore's appeal in which he basically asked for his old job back. Moore was booted from his position as Alabama Supreme Court chief justice after refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument he had installed in the state judicial building.

"I am disappointed but not surprised that this liberal Supreme Court, which opens every session with 'God save the United States and this honorable court,' would now simply ignore the fact that the chief justice of a state was removed from office because he acknowledged who God is," Moore said.

He told the Montgomery Advertiser, "God is sovereign and shall remain so despite what the Supreme Court and federal district courts of this land say. I have kept my oath and my promise to the people of the state of Alabama. I've obeyed the rule of law by not following the unlawful dictates of man."

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October (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48