Bill would ban discrimination for marriage convictions

Excerpted from "Archbishop: DOMA ruling, ENDA passage put marriage at 'critical point,'" Catholic News Agency, Nov. 15, 2013 - The Supreme Court's ruling that rendered the federal Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, and the Senate's passage Nov. 7 of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act [ENDA] put the legal defense of marriage "at a critical point in this country," said the archbishop who heads the U.S. bishops' Subcommittee on the Promotion and Defense of Marriage. “The Supreme Court's DOMA decision is now being used to judicially challenge marriage laws in more than a dozen states that still recognize marriage as the union of one man and one woman," said Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco.

The effects of ENDA, Archbishop Cordileone said during a Nov. 11 presentation at the U.S. bishops' fall general meeting in Baltimore, "go much further" than preventing employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity to the point where "ENDA-like laws have contributed to the erosion and redefinition of marriage at the state level."

One remedy, he said, could come in the form of the Marriage and Religious Freedom Act, which would bar the federal government from discriminating against those who "act upon their religiously motivated belief that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, or that sexual relations are properly reserved for such a marriage." The bill's scope would include protection for individuals and organizations, both non-profit and for-profit. Archbishop Cordileone pointed to a case in New Mexico where a unanimous state supreme court ruled that a photo studio must photograph a same-sex commitment ceremony "if they wish to remain in business."

Commentary

Jonathan Imbody, CMA VP for Govt. Relations:When professional photographers lose in court for simply declining to photograph a same-sex marriage, on the basis of conscience, it's not at all hard to imagine physicians losing in court for declining to provide IVF services or abortion counseling or for simply discussing the health risks of sex outside of heterosexual marriage. Physicians will remember that in November 2007, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists moved to minimize conscience rights by stating that regardless of convictions, physicians were required ethically to either perform abortions or refer patients for abortions. The healthcare professionals' conscience protection federal regulation that we helped advance during the Bush administration, in response to the ACOG threat, fell prey to the much more restrictive view of religious liberty of the Obama administration, which gutted the reg.

As demonstrated by the current HHS contraceptive mandate, a move to restrict faith-based organizations' hiring rights through a Supreme Court case (Hosanna-Tabor) and other actions (see www.Freedom2Care.org), the administration frames religious liberty as merely the freedom to believe or to worship--not to live out your faith-based conscience convictions on moral issues like abortion, marriage and medical ethics.

Some see this trend and simply shake their heads and wonder what the world is coming to. Better to stand up and have a say in what the world is coming to. We still live in a democratic republic, so your voice can still make a difference. Please consider taking a moment to complete the simple and quick legislative action step below. Thank you.

Resources

CMA Letter Opposing ENDA
Letter Opposing WA HB 1515

Action

Use our Freedom2Care pre-written form to tell your lawmakers to protect you from discrimination because of your convictions on marriage.