Cali Supremes Slam Catholic Charities

The state high court rules that religious affiliated non-profit groups must include contraception with employee health benefits.

The 6-1 decision by the California Supreme Court, the highest such ruling to date nationwide, could reach far beyond the 183 full-time charity employees. It also could affect thousands of workers at Catholic hospitals and other church-backed institutes throughout the state.

The high court said Catholic Charities is no different than other businesses in California, which is one of 20 states that require company-provided health plans to include contraception coverage. In California, "religious employers" such as churches are exempt from the requirement.

As I see it, there are good and bad things to this decision. The good part is that in order to fall under the religious exemption, it might force Church affiliated organizations to be more observant of Catholic teachings. (It's my understanding, for instance, that there are many Catholic Charities in the state that make contraception available to the general public and are resistent to criticizing sexually immoral behavior). The bad part, of course, is that religious affiliated charities must not only compromise their stated beliefs in order to do business in the state, the effect pf the Court's decision will probably deter new charitable organizations from even forming.