New Jersey: A New Jersey bishop is calling on legislators to amend a bill that would force religious groups to fund contraceptive coverage for their employees, even if doing so violates their religious convictions. “Legislation (S3804/A5508) is now being considered in the New Jersey legislature which eliminates the long-standing religious employers’ exemption in the current law,” said Bishop James Checchio of Metuchen.
“Eliminating the religious employers’ exemption would essentially force religious organizations to pay for medications, including abortion-causing drugs, sterilizations, and other procedures which violate our fundamental belief that all life, from conception to natural death, is sacred,” he said in a December 10 statement.
The bill was introduced to the New Jersey Senate in May and the state’s House of Representatives in June. If passed, it would require full coverage for certain contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs in health care plans and remove exemptions for religious organizations.
Sita said the proposed law would place the sisters in a “morally impossible situation.” He said he could not imagine life without the sisters’ help if the home were forced to shut down. “I couldn’t even imagine it and I pray and I hope that doesn’t happen,” he said.
Bishop Checchio encouraged Catholics to take action against the bill, pointing to a website where people may appeal to their local representatives. “I urge all of the faithful to contact their state senators today and urge them to amend the proposed legislation, S3804/A5508 to retain the established religious employers’ exemption which is contained in current law,” the bishop said. CNA
