Religion
In reply to the discussion: A tentative win for religious liberty in Obamacare lawsuit [View all]Brettongarcia
(2,262 posts)Some of the main complaintants here are conservative Catholic institutions, like EWTN/RN, and Priests for Life; on behalf allegedly of say Catholic, anti-abortionist hospitals and so forth. These institutions allege they shouldn't have to furnish abortions, against their own (alleged) beliefs.
But? Note here that most Protestant churches - my religion, my church - allow abortion. And so what happens next, when I go to the only hospital in the region - a Catholic one - and need an immediate abortion to save my life from a dangerous pregnancy? Can the Catholic hospital refuse my need - and my religious beliefs - and leave me to die?
This isn't hypothetical; the NY Times reported just a month ago or so, that there is a case under review in Ireland, right now, where this seems to have happened.
Honoring religious freedom is complicated. The fact is that religious beliefs often conflict. So the question is more complicated than Rug implies here.
(Another complication: some religious beliefs are in conflict with the law. So in one famous 19th cent. case, the Supreme Court samply told Mormons that their religious allowance of polygamy for example, was simply illegal.)
Freedom of religion is a far more complicated and nuanced thing, than the announcement of a simple victory here, would imply. And that nuance is reflected in the ambiguity and tentativeness of the legal proceedings to date.