Seth Udinski, FISM News
In win a for religious freedom and for the protection of the unborn, the Supreme Court voided a ruling on Monday against religious employers that would have forced them pay for health care plans that would cover abortions. The case, Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, et al. v. Emani, Shiri, et al, now returns to the New York City Court of Appeals.
This ruling follows one of a similar nature involving Catholic foster care agencies in Philadelphia, where the court protected the rights of those agencies to only place children in the homes of heterosexual couples.
One of the Diocese’s lawyers said afterward,
New York clearly learned nothing from the federal government’s own attempts to force nuns to pay for contraceptives and is now needlessly threatening charities because they believe in the dignity and humanity of every human person. We are thankful that the Supreme Court won’t allow the New York Court of Appeals’ bad ruling to be the last word on the right of religious ministries to serve New Yorkers of all faiths.
Mother Miriam of the Sisterhood of Saint Mary, which according to The Christian Post is the oldest Anglican religious order in the United States, further praised the High Court, saying,
We believe that every person is made in the image of God. That’s why we believe in the sanctity of human life, and why we seek to serve those of all faiths — or no faith at all — in our community. We’re grateful that the Supreme Court has taken action in our case and hopeful that, this time around, the New York Court of Appeals will preserve our ability to serve and encourage our neighbors.