Belmont Abbey College retains religious liberty law firm to defend itself against EEOCNov 2, 2009 As of September 10, Belmont Abbey College retained The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a public-interest law firm in Washington, D.C., to join its legal team and help defend the school against the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
In July the EEOC accused Belmont Abbey College, a Roman Catholic liberal arts college in North Carolina, of discriminating against its female employees by not covering contraceptives in its health insurance plan.
“When he went to Notre Dame and the Vatican, President Obama talked a good game about protecting conscience. But when his administration went to Belmont Abbey, where the rubber meets the road, it was a very different story,” said Kevin “Seamus” Hasson, president and founder of The Becket Fund.
To help the Becket Fund defend Belmont Abbey College, please click here.
In 2007, Belmont Abbey College removed coverage for abortion, contraception, and voluntary sterilization from its employee health benefits plan, after learning that these procedures had accidentally been included in violation of the college’s religious tenets. Responding to the change in coverage, eight faculty members filed a complaint with the EEOC and the North Carolina Department of Insurance. After indicating in a March 2009 letter that it did not find evidence of gender discrimination, the EEOC – presumably at the direction of the new administration in Washington – reversed its decision and stated in a July 30 letter that “By denying prescription contraceptive drugs, [Belmont Abbey College] is discriminating based on gender because only females take oral contraceptives. By denying coverage, men are not affected, only women.”
“This case is a very important part of a much larger battle – the battle to protect the good name of conscientious objection in America. Ever since the Quakers, with their gentle stubbornness, persuaded a skeptical America that they should not have to swear oaths or serve in the military against their consciences, we have recognized that principled people are an asset to a society, not a liability,” said Hasson. “The EEOC’s action is a direct assault on the principle of conscientious objection itself, and we will resist it vigorously. We will fight them on the hills, we will fight them on the beaches,” added Hasson.
Based in Washington, D.C., The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is a nonpartisan, interfaith, public-interest law firm dedicated to protecting the free expression of all religious traditions. The law firm has a 15-year-old history of defending religious liberty.
For more information or to arrange an interview with one of the attorneys email Kristina Arriaga, Communications Director, at karriaga@becketfund.org, call 703.582.8962 or contact Montserrat Alvarado, Assistant Communications Director, at malvarado@becketfund.org.
News Coverage:
EWTN - Belmont Abbey Retains Becket Fund To Defend Against Contraception Ruling
National Catholic Register - When ‘Rights’ to the Pill Trump the First Amendment
Catholic News Agency - Belmont Abbey retains Becket Fund to defend against contraception ruling
Wall Street Journal - Look Who's Discriminating Now
The Philadelphia Inquirer- The Elephant in the Room: Christian Freedoms at Risk
News Observer - Birth control test case
The John William Pope Center - Bureaucrats at the Gate
To help the Becket Fund defend Belmont Abbey College, please click here. Resources & Documents
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