PHOENIX (LifeSiteNews) — A group of Catholic students and parents backed by the Archdiocese of Denver has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene against the state of Colorado’s attempts to exclude them from a universal preschool program on the basis of their faith.
The Washington Stand explains that since 2022, Colorado’s universal preschool program (UPK) has enabled families to send their children to one of the top five preschools they choose for free. But two preschools run by St. Mary Catholic Parish and St. Bernadette Catholic Parish were excluded from the program on the basis of their written commitment to uphold the Church’s moral teachings, including on gender and sexuality, which could conflict with admitting students and families who reject those teachings.
The schools sought an exemption and were denied, then sued the Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) on First Amendment religious freedom grounds, but were rejected by the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Now they are asking the nation’s highest court to get involved.
“Colorado is picking winners and losers based on the content of their religious beliefs,” says Nick Reaves, senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. “That sort of religious discrimination flies in the face of our nation’s traditions and decades of Supreme Court rulings. We’re asking the Court to step in and make sure ‘universal’ preschool really is universal.”
Becket notes that since the start of the program, “enrollment at Catholic preschools has swiftly declined, while two Catholic preschools have shuttered their doors, including one that predominantly served low-income and minority families.”
The Supreme Court has not yet said whether it will take the case but is expected to decide early next year.
The current Supreme Court is sometimes unpredictable on conservative and pro-family goals, despite six of its nine current members having been appointed by the GOP, including three by President Donald Trump alone.
The Court has delivered conservatives major victories on gun rights, environmental regulation, affirmative action, and, most significantly, abortion with the overturn of Roe v. Wade, but it has also issued dismissive rulings on COVID-19 shot mandates, religious freedom, and LGBT ideology to the point that conservative Justice Samuel Alito has taken the rare step of criticizing Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh for lacking the “fortitude” to resolve such issues.