April 8, 2015

Part one: On religious liberty
The New York State Catholic Conference was founded to translate Catholic teachings into action in the public policy arena.

These teachings, which are centered on the innate dignity of every human person made in the image and likeness of God, form the basis of the Conference’s legislative agenda.

This agenda and supporting documentation is intended to illuminate the rich teachings of the faith as they relate to public policy, and to help Catholic citizens and public officials to understand and put into context our positions on a wide range of issues.

The North Country Catholic is beginning a  series of articles on the issues the Catholic Conference is addressing during 2015, beginning With religious liberty.

Summary
Current New York State Civil Rights law protects medical personnel who do not wish to be involved in abortion procedures.  State regulations protect Catholic hospitals from being compelled to allow abortions in their facilities. 

But these policies are limited and do not provide adequate protection to individuals or institutions with religious and moral objections to activities, procedures or mandates such as abortion, euthanasia, embryo research, human cloning and same-sex “marriage.”

Conference Position
Comprehensive religious liberty protections are urgently needed as religious organizations and individuals are increasingly being coerced into accepting standards and participating in activities which violate their deeply-held religious and moral beliefs.

Rationale
The Catholic Church teaches that “society and the state must not force a person to act against his conscience or prevent him from acting in conformity with it.” (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, #42)
Religious-affiliated providers must have the right to operate and provide services in accordance with their mission statements and fundamental ethical principles. (Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care, fifth edition)

Yet recent legislative actions and judicial decisions highlight the urgency of establishing comprehensive conscience protections for religious institutions and individuals in New York State. 

A state mandate for contraceptive insurance coverage, a requirement for adoption agencies to place children in same-sex coupled homes, and a same-sex “marriage” law are a few of the recent legal changes in our state, and legislative threats such as the extreme abortion bill (the “Reproductive Health Act”) loom on the horizon and present a multitude of new threats to freedom of conscience.

Failure to follow such state mandates, and provide employment benefits or services, would render religious organizations and persons “discriminatory,” and may lead to prosecution or the loss of tax-exempt status.
The refusal of religious organizations could also cost them exclusion from government contracting decisions or their state licenses to perform important services, such as education, health care and social service. 

This has already happened in the United States, Canada, and Britain. For example, New York State’s new law redefining marriage, with only a very narrow religious exemption, has already resulted in county clerks facing legal action for refusing to participate in same-sex unions. 

At the national level, the government has withheld a grant from the United State Catholic Conference’s Migration and Refugee Services Department because in providing services to human trafficking victims, they do not provide abortion and contraception. 

Such decisions will end up costing the government additional money to render critical services to poor, needy and vulnerable populations.