LOS ANGELES, July 4, 2001 (LSN.ca) – A California State appellate court ruled Monday that a new California law requiring Catholic Charities to provide contraception and abortion chemicals to women who receive health insurance coverage does not violate religious freedom. Arthur Scotland, presiding justice of the three-judge Court of Appeal panel in Sacramento, revealed that he and the other justices accepted the pro-abortion ideology that not providing abortifacient birth control pills discriminates against women. Catholic Charities is not required to support the principle of contraception, but “having chosen to provide employee health insurance coverage with prescription drug benefits, it simply is required to provide benefits that do not discriminate against women,” said Scotland.
Commenting on the ruling, Judie Brown, president of American Life League said “the rights of California Catholics to freely practice their religious beliefs have been flagrantly violated. In California, so-called ‘diverse’ lifestyles are welcomed—but not if you are a practicing Catholic.” Brown concluded, “the court’s ruling is an act of hypocrisy and judicial tyranny which must be overturned.”
See the coverage of the ruling at: https://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/07/03/MN146663.DTL