For Immediate Release: October 24, 2024
Rochester, NY—The Thomas More Society, a public interest law firm based in Chicago, filed on behalf of CompassCare, an ecumenical pro-life network of New York pregnancy centers, a friend of the court brief to the Supreme Court of the United States. The brief is in support of the Catholic Diocese of Albany in their lawsuit against New York State. For several years, even after the implementation of Obamacare, New York State has mandated all health insurance plans pay for abortion and abortion-causing contraceptives without co-pay—including Catholic health insurance plans. This abortion mandate forces pro-life organizations and churches to pay for abortion, a violation of their First Amendment religious liberty.
There is no acceptable moral alternative to conventional health insurance in NY for traditional Christians of all stripes. New York’s overly broad and discriminatory abortion mandate, forces all Christians, Churches and pro-life organizations to either pay for abortion and abortion-causing contraception against their deeply held religious beliefs, or opt out. Thus, CompassCare was forced out. This has had damaging implications for hiring, maintaining staff, as well as increased tax liability for those heavily burdened employees.
To safeguard the rights of the millions of Christians who find it unconscionable to pay for abortion through their health insurance premiums, CompassCare has submitted this brief to the Supreme Court of the United States. The brief holds that every individual, religious entity, or expressive association should be able to opt-out without punishment, having a moral alternative. Experts postulate this could be made impossible if Ballot Proposal Number One passes this November, enshrining abortion as a protected civil right in New York’s Constitution.
Rev. Jim Harden, CEO of CompassCare says, “Pro-life people have been, and continue to bare up under the pro-abortion bigotry of New York politicians. Ironically, pro-abortion politicians seeking votes insist pro-life people and policies will violate the rights and freedoms of women. Yet, when one considers the strategic lawsuits against public participation leveled against pregnancy centers by the AGs of New York and California, or the scores of peaceful pro-life advocates sent to federal prison by the Biden/Harris DOJ on trumped up FACE violations, one can only view their propaganda as political transference, accusing one’s pro-life opponent of committing or intending to commit the very crimes political abortion activists have been committing for over 50 years.”
Wherever pro-abortion politicians gain the majority, their pro-abortion bigotry normative to NY will be nationalized. Many have generally considered the problem of a health insurance plan buying abortion a Catholic issue. But as Rev Harden points out, “This is a problem for all serious pro-life Christians who believe Scripture saying, ‘Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.’”
As a stop gap, CompassCare is providing employees access to Christian medical cost sharing. To further the discrimination, the federal government put a moratorium on the creation of such programs, leaving just a handful of programs available including Samaritan Ministries and Medi-Share to Christian, conscientious objectors.
Help CompassCare expand to reach and serve even more women seriously considering abortion in NY and across the United States.