Diocese of Sacramento Will Appeal Catholic Charities Lawsuit to U.S. Supreme Court.Business Editors/Legal Writers SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 1, 2004 Seeks to Overturn Ruling That Catholic Charities is Not a Religious Organization under State Law and is Obligated ob·li·gate tr.v. ob·li·gat·ed, ob·li·gat·ing, ob·li·gates 1. To bind, compel, or constrain by a social, legal, or moral tie. See Synonyms at force. 2. To cause to be grateful or indebted; oblige. to Provide Coverage for Contraceptives as Part of a Prescription Drug prescription drug Prescription medication Pharmacology An FDA-approved drug which must, by federal law or regulation, be dispensed only pursuant to a prescription–eg, finished dose form and active ingredients subject to the provisos of the Federal Food, Drug, Benefit Bishop William K. Weigand, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the northern California region of the United States. It comprises the City of Sacramento and the counties to its north. , announced today that Catholic Charities of Sacramento will appeal a decision by the California Supreme Court that Catholic Charities is not a "religious organization" under state law and therefore must provide coverage for contraceptives. Lawyers for Catholic Charities and the diocese filed their petition with the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, May 28. The case, Catholic Charities of Sacramento, Inc. v. CA Department of Managed Health Care, was filed in July 2000 in response to a change in state law that required employers who provide a prescription drug benefit to also cover birth control. "Religious organizations" were previously exempted from providing contraception coverage for their employees, but the law as written doesn't consider Catholic hospitals, universities or charities to be religious organizations. "This lawsuit has very little to do with health insurance and everything to do with our fundamental rights as Americans," said Bishop Weigand. "It boils down to a very simple question. Under the Constitution, does the State of California have the right to tell its citizens how to practice their religion?" The legislation challenged by the lawsuit was passed in 1999 as AB 39 (Hertzberg) and SB 41 (Speier). Both bills went into effect January 1, 2000 as the "Women's Contraception Equity Act" or WECA See Wi-Fi Alliance. . WECA contains a so-called "conscience clause conscience clause n. A clause in a law that relieves persons whose conscientious or religious scruples forbid compliance. " that exempts churches and church schools, but otherwise does not apply if the religious organization employs or serves people from other faiths. "Healing the sick, offering charity to the poor and providing education to the young are fundamental to how Catholics practice their faith," said Weigand. "We don't ask anyone if they're Catholic first." "In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently ," continued Weigand, "if we turned our back on the basic teachings of our religion and employed only Catholics, provided charity and social services social services Noun, pl welfare services provided by local authorities or a state agency for people with particular social needs social services npl → servicios mpl sociales only to Catholics, educated only Catholics in our universities and treated only Catholics in our hospitals, we would be in compliance with the law." Catholic Charities is represented by Kevin Baine of Williams & Connelly in Washington, DC and James Sweeney of Sweeney, Davidian, Greene & Grant in Sacramento. A copy of the petition is available on request. The State of California has 30 days to respond. Four justices must decide to hear the case before it can come before the U.S. Supreme Court. A decision on whether the Court will accept the case is not expected before October 2004. Catholic Charities of Sacramento is part of the Diocese of Sacramento and carries out the social justice ministry of the Church to care for the sick, the poor and the needy. It serves people of all faiths, and in 2003, it helped more than 70,000 people. The Diocese of Sacramento serves more than 500,000 Catholics in 20 counties covering 42,000 square miles A square mil is a unit of area, equal to the area of a square with sides of length one mil. A mil is one thousandth of an international inch. This unit of area is usually used in specifying the area of the cross section of a wire or cable. of Northern California Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The region contains the San Francisco Bay Area, the state capital, Sacramento; as well as the substantial natural beauty of the redwood forests, the northern from San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay, 50 mi (80 km) long and from 3 to 13 mi (4.8–21 km) wide, W Calif.; entered through the Golden Gate, a strait between two peninsulas. to Sacramento and the Oregon border. It includes 98 parishes, 54 elementary and secondary schools, and various social service and family support organizations throughout the region. |
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