The American Catholic Bishops are suing for the right to exempt themselves from laws that require secular employers to cover contraceptives if they offer prescription drug coverage as an employee benefit. They argue that it would be an unconscionable violation of "religious liberty" to require them to pay for something that goes against their religious doctrines.
Did you know that 12% of the hospitals in the United States are owned by the Catholic Church? That is one hell of a lot of hard working doctors, nurses, nurses aids and hospital administrators who are going to be told "sorry, dear, but you get a second-rate healthcare plan compared to your male counterparts".
Mention this to the Katheryn Jean Lopez's of the world and everyone else who is falling over themselves to do as Cardinal Dolan instructs and you know what they will say? "If they don't want to follow Catholic doctrine they shouldn't be working at a Catholic hospital."
Which somewhat overlooks the fact that the Catholic Church came to own so many hospitals not just by building them but also by buying them and arranging mergers wherein smaller hospitals are absorbed into a larger network of Catholic hospitals.
So if you are a nurse with no interest in Catholic doctrine, what happens when the Catholic Church starts calling the shots at your local hospital? Simple, say the conservatives. Either tolerate having an alien religious doctrine imposed on your employment contract, or find a job elsewhere. So then, ER nurse: after a 12-hour shift saving lives you can endure a 1.5 hour drive in the dark on the road between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, all in the name of placating the rather unusual conscience of Cardinal Dolan.
Here is the "ripped-from-the-headlines" bit: today is the last day of Whites Only "Annual Pastors Conference".
Rolandz diaried it here.
The church hosting the conference is called Christian Identity Ministries. It is run by Rev. William Collier, who defends the “All White Christians Invited” tag line
saying that he isn’t a racist — just that “the white race is God’s chosen people”
Thought experiment:
Christian Identity Ministries buys a hospital and immediately institutes a policy of preferential hiring and promotion of white employees, on the grounds that when there is more than one candidate, they'll give the post to person who was chosen by God, as defined by their doctrine. And while this policy would be illegal as hell at a secular hospital, Christian Identity Ministries has to be allowed to declare itself exempt from the relevant employment legislation, on the grounds of religious liberty - you can't force them to spend money on something that goes against their religious principles.
Happy, Cardinal Dolan?