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Judge lets over 8,000 Catholic employers deny worker protections for abortion and fertility care
Monday’s decision followed a ruling in July by a federal judge in Louisiana, who granted a preliminary injunction in two similar lawsuits brought by the Louisiana and Mississippi attorneys general, and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic University and two dioceses. The cases differ because the North Dakota lawsuit also explicitly challenged protections for fertility treatments, not just abortion, said Leila Abolfazli, director of national abortion strategy for the National Women’s Law Center.
In practice, Abolfazli said, if a worker is denied time off for fertility care, “that could be the difference between becoming pregnant or not.” While the ruling only applies to the Catholic groups, she explained that it’s one of several lawsuits that threaten to “bit by bit undermine the law overall.
