State Court directs Catholic Church to offer Contraceptives

New York's highest court in its Thursday's ruling directed Catholic and other religious social service organizations to provide birth-control coverage essentially to their employees, even if they account contraception a sin.

Catholic-affiliated religious organizations and nine other groups had sued to overturn the law that mandates insurance coverage for contraceptives. They claimed that the law forced them to violate tenets of their faith, and was an unconstitutional restraint on the free exercise of religion. They had asked to be exempted from the mandate.

The state law necessitates employers to provide health insurance coverage for mammograms, bone density screening and other preventive services for women, including prescription contraceptives. The law spares churches, seminaries and other institutions with a primarily religious mission.

And, acting against plaintiffs demand for exemption, the Court of Appeals in a 6-0 ruling determined that only narrowly defined church-run organizations could qualify for an exemption and not the Church affiliates, such as the prime plaintiff, Catholic Charities of Albany.

The organizations "believe contraception to be sinful," the Court of Appeals said. "We must weigh against (their) interests in adhering to the tenets of their faith the state's substantial interest in fostering equality between the sexes, and in providing women with better health care."

Giving the reason behind why such charities do no qualify, the ruling stated that those charities integrate a variety of social and educational services, covering different topics such as domestic violence, affordable housing and also hospice services, in their mission.

The law, which came into effect in 2002 and known as the Women's Health and Wellness Act, also requires coverage of osteoporosis, breast and cervical cancer screenings.

The same plaintiffs had sued the state for an exemption but lost in the lower courts.

Unhappy with the ruling, Dennis Poust, spokesman for the Catholic conference, said, "We think this has never really been about contraception. We think it was to target the church and open the door for coverage of abortion."

The ruling depicted that “no one is above the law, including the Catholic bishops,” satisfied with the judgment, Kelli Conlin, president of NARAL Pro-Choice New York, part of the national abortion rights organization, said. "No employer should be able to force their beliefs upon their employees, especially given that 97 percent of Catholics report using birth control."

After losing case in the lower court and state appeals court, the New York Catholic Conference is considering appealing the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.