Catholic bishops challenge state's contraceptive law

By The Associated Press

01.06.03

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ALBANY, N.Y. — The state's Roman Catholic bishops and some Protestant churches are suing the state to overturn a law that will require employers — including religious hospitals and agencies — to offer prescription contraceptives to employees.

The New York State Catholic Conference called the law that went into effect on Jan. 1 "a governmental assault" that "intrudes on any religion that does not share the goals and ideals of the abortion industry." The Catholic Church, which opposes contraceptives and abortion, employs thousands of workers in 40 hospitals, 60 nursing homes and hundreds of social service agencies and schools statewide.

"Such an outrageous law ought to alarm anyone who loves America and the freedoms for which it stands," said eight Catholic bishops including Cardinal Edward Egan, New York's archbishop, in a statement announcing the suit.

"We cannot let this unprecedented intrusion on our religious rights go unchallenged," the bishops said of the suit filed Dec. 30 in state Supreme Court in Albany.

The law exempts churches, seminaries and other institutions with a mainly religious mission that primarily serve followers of that religion. But the law also requires any employer that chooses to provide prescription drug coverage to employees to also cover women's prescription contraceptives. The bishops argue that the state attempts to define "what is and what is not Catholic," with "grave implications for all religious faiths."

Contraceptive coverage was the most controversial part of the state's Women's Health Bill, which requires employers to cover more frequent mammograms, osteoporosis exams and other measures to employees with health benefits.

"This important law will provide needed protections for women across New York, and we're confident it will be upheld," said Gov. George Pataki spokeswoman Suzanne Morris.

JoAnn Smith, president of Family Planning Advocates of New York State, said the suit threatens the benefit of lower-cost prescription contraceptives for thousands of workers.

"Those employees are not Catholics, exclusively," Smith said. "They will, in this lawsuit, be denying these benefits to people of all faiths and the people it hits the hardest are, of course, the people with the lowest incomes."

The New York State Catholic Conference announced months ago it could resort to the courts to overturn the measure, although officials acknowledged that many of the state's 7.3 million Catholics don't follow the church's ban on contraceptives.

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