The New Tort: Insemination Discrimination

I'm just as opposed to invidious discrimination as the next equality-loving fellow, but it seems a bit heavy-handed to suggest that any refusal by a physician to artificially inseminate an individual based on her marital status is unlawful, regardless of the religious convictions underlying the refusal.  Apparently, that may be the case in California.  The story of the litigation is here.  (It's pitched as a gay rights case, but it is just as easily classified as an issue of marital status.)  As the plaintiff's attorney remarked, “People have a right to choose to start families, and providers who offer these services to the public don’t get to pick and choose who can be a family.”  So much for the moral marketplace.  (Hat Tip: Open Book)

Rob