Feds Sued Over Religious Groups That Deny Migrant Teens Abortions

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Feds Sued Over Religious Groups That Deny Migrant Teens Abortions https://www.buzzfeed.com/azeenghorayshi/religious-groups-refusing-teens-abortions?utm_term=.saMVrbbl3#.jhmKAVVYj …








Feds Sued Over Religious Groups That Deny Migrant Teens Abortions

The ACLU alleges that the U.S. government has funded religious groups who refuse migrant teens — many of whom have been sexually assaulted or raped — the reproductive care they’re legally entitled to.


posted on Jul. 9, 2016, at 11:22 a.m.
Azeen Ghorayshi




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Rebecca Blackwell / AP





A federal lawsuit alleges that U.S. immigration officials illegally funded religious organizations that denied birth control and abortion services to migrant teens.

The complaint, filed two weeks ago in a California district court by the American Civil Liberties Union, alleges that these groups, which include many Catholic-affiliated shelters and charities, are violating legal requirements to provide “appropriate routine medical care,” including family planning and emergency health care services.

The lawsuit is part of a bigger effort to draw attention to religious conflicts in the U.S. healthcare system. One in six patients in the U.S. is currently cared for in a Catholic hospital, according to the Catholic Health Association. At issue is the fact that all Catholic hospitals must abide by a set of Ethical and Religious Directives, or ERDs. Set by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), these rules prohibit abortions, contraception, sterilizations, and certain prenatal tests.

“What’s striking about the broader issue regarding the kinds of exceptions that these large hospitals and religious providers get is that they’ve really floated under the radar,” Douglas NeJaime, a law professor at UCLA, told BuzzFeed News. “We’ve had these laws on the books for a very long time that allow providers to refuse information, counseling, referrals. But as Catholic healthcare plays a bigger role in the U.S., we will see more challenges.”

In 2014, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) received more than $10 million in federal funding to provide care for the unaccompanied migrant teens at issue in the lawsuit..........................................