(LifeSiteNews) — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) appealed a federal court ruling that would force Catholic groups to provide workplace accommodations to women seeking abortions.
The case, in which the USCCB is joined by other Catholic bodies including the Catholic University of America, challenges the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for rules linked to the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which requires workplace accommodations for pregnant mothers and mothers who have recently given birth.
Adjusted work schedules and restroom breaks are examples of accommodations for pregnant mothers required under the Act.
The Catholic plaintiffs point out that the law did not include abortions as a reason for accommodation, a provision that was added as a rule by the Biden administration.
According to the lawsuit, the rule would require religious groups such as churches to change their statement of faith, policies, workplace practices, and employee speech to conform to abortion accommodation requirements.
“The Church forbids the faithful from in any way supporting or encouraging direct abortion or being complicit in the actions of those who do,” the USCCB stressed in the lawsuit.
“But the Final Rule pressures the Bishops to knowingly accommodate employees or faculty even where such accommodations are contrary to the Bishops’ sincerely held religious beliefs,” the lawsuit continues.
“Bureaucrats tried to twist a bipartisan law protecting pregnant women and their unborn babies into a mandate that churches facilitate abortion within their own ministries,” attorney Laura Wolk Slavis commented. “If there’s one thing everyone should agree on about abortion, it’s that Uncle Sam can’t make Mother Teresa support it.”
“In 250 years, our nation has never allowed the state to make the church support abortion — and now’s not the time to start,” she added.
After the USCCB originally filed the lawsuit in May 2024, a lower court partially block the rule but still allowed forced abortion accommodations in certain cases, according to the plaintiffs.
The court also refused to apply religious freedom exemptions.
In May 2025, a federal court ruled that Catholic organizations are required under the rule to provide abortion accommodations when a pregnancy causes negative health effects, including common ailments such as nausea and vomiting.
Daniel Blomberg, an attorney for Becket, pointed out to EWTN News that the ruling requires Catholic groups to not only accommodate abortions in such circumstances but also to rewrite policies and procedures “in a way that clearly communicates these accommodations to employees.”