Mirror of Justice

A blog dedicated to the development of Catholic legal theory.
Affiliated with the Program on Church, State & Society at Notre Dame Law School.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Michael Perry's Question

By Susan Stabile

Michael Perry asked yesterday what it means to identify oneself as Catholic.  Although I did not have his question in mind when I wrote my Creo en Dios! blog post this morning, which commented on today's Gospel from St. Matthew, Michael Scaperlanda suggested to me that I cross-post it here, since it provides an answer to Michael P.s question. 

As I suggest in the post, "try as we might to complicate things, it really is that simple. No daring or extraordinary deeds like cleaning the Augean stables or capturing a Cerynitian Hind. Just love. Love God. Love one another. 'The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.'”  You can read the entirety of the post here).  

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Question about Natural Family Planning and the EEOC

By Susan Stabile

WIth respect to the question posed by our reader, I agree with Rob that the EEOC is unlikely to deem the coverage of NFP sufficient.  It is the second of the reasons Rob mentioned that is key.

The claim here is not that an employer is obligated to provide some family planning coverage (such that NFP might be viewed to be sufficient), but that failing to cover prescription contraception is a form of sexual discrimination.  Because prescription contraceptives are used exclusively by women, the exclusion of coverage is viewed as discrimination on the basis of sex (and/or pregnancy).  It has also been argued that if a plan cover other prescription medication and not contraceptives, women bear a disproportionate share of out-of-pocket health care costs.

As an aside, the state laws that deal with this issue typically require that if a plan provides any prescription coverage, it has to provide coverage of all FDA-approved means of prescription contraception.

I don't think Rob's first argument would be persuasive in the absence of the second.  Employers have tremendous freedom re what they cover under their health plsns.  In the absence of a claim of sexal discrimination, it is irrelevant what other purpose contraception is used for.


 

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Investigation of Women Religious

By Susan Stabile

At least several MOJ posts in the last two months have addressed the Vatican investigation of women relgious in the United States.  I've tried hard to look at this in the best possible light, which I confess has not always been easy.

However, whatever one thinks of the investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and of religious orders in the US in general, what justification is there for saying the sisters will not be allowed to see the final reports that will submitted to the Vatican?   (See, e.g., here.) Even if one feels some sisters are overreacting in their opposition to the investigation, it is hard to argue that they don't have a legitimate gripe about not getting to see what is being reported about them.

Catholic Institutions and Contraception Coverage

By Susan Stabile

The EEOC's decision regarding Belmont Abbey College, which Rob addresses, is lamentable, but not surprising. 

The EEOC has consistently taken the position that the exclusion of contraception coverage from prescription coverage constitutes discrimination on the basis of sex and/or discrimination on the basis of pregnancy. What is new here is that the EEOC has not in the past targeted religious employers who do not provide such coverage.

That they do now is not surprising.  We are seeing in all sorts of contexts increasing lack of tolerance for conscience claims of religious institutions.  And this particular issue has already been addressed at the state level to the detriment of religous employers: most state statutes requiring prescription contraception coverage either do not exempt religious employers or draft their exemptions so narrowly that  many religious employers fall outside the exemption.  (As most MOJ readers probably know, Catholic Charities lost cases in both NY and California on this issue.)  In many ways, this unfortunate circumstance is the logical outcome of the Supreme Court's 1990 decision in Employment Division v. Smith.

I should add that the EEOC's stepping in makes the situation worse for relgious employers than merely being subject to state law in this area.  Becuase of the preemptive effect of ERISA, state statutes can only include prescription contraceptive mandates as part of their insurance law, effectively saying: if you want to insure in this state, if you provide any prescription coverage, you must provide contraception coverage.  That means that a large enough religious employer can choose to self-insure and avoid being subject to the state law.  Self-insurance would not, however, sheild a religious employer from action by the EEOC.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Life without Friends

By Susan Stabile

Michael P's post asking what would our lives be without friends brought to mind a post I made a while back on my own blog titled, What it Means to Have Friends.  The post was prompted by a video done by Work of the People, exploring the question, What is Poverty?  My post, which describes and links to the video is here.  Ask yourselves the questions the narrator of the video asks and you'll be on the way to an answer to Michael's question about what it mean to lack genuine friends.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Extreme Wealth and Poverty and the Virtue of Enough

By Susan Stabile

The Sixth Biennial Poverty Conference of the  Vincentian Chair of Social Justice will take place on October 17, 2009.  The theme for this year's conference is Extreme Wealth and Poverty and the Virtue of Enough.  The conference will include plenary session talks by Drew Christiansen, S.J., Editor-in Chief of America Magazine, and H.E. Mr. Oscar de Rojas, Director for UN Financing for Development.  A complete schedule and registration infromation should shortly be available on the Vincentian Center website here.  In the meantime, a copy of the conference poster is here.

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Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Reminder: Annual Meeting of the Conference of Catholic Legal Thought

By Susan Stabile

REMINDER: The 4th Annual Conference on Catholic Legal Thought, will be hosted at Catholic University’s Law School (Washington D.C.) from June 9 – 11, 2009. If you are a law professor with an interest in Catholic Legal Thought, please join us for the 4th Annual Conference on Catholic Legal Thought, hosted this year at The Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C. As with the prior conferences, this meeting is for those law professors who are just beginning to integrate Catholic social thought into their scholarship and teaching, as well as those law professors who are more experienced. As has become traditional, the first afternoon will be an introduction to basic principles of Catholic social teachings. The second and third days will consist of more in-depth, interactive presentations and discussions. Our time together will also encompass daily Mass and spiritual exercises, as well as the opportunity for participants to share meals and much informal fellowship. For this 2009 Conference, we selected as our theme “The Legal Implications of the Work of Pope Benedict XVI” with the idea that our conversation would be organized around the central themes in his writings as both theologian and pontiff: Love, Hope, and Law. Unlike many typical conferences, we hope that this will not be a collection of presentations at an audience, but rather that it will truly be a discussion led by our presenters with all conference participants. To that end, a list of reading materials will be circulated to all registrants in advance of the conference. If you would like further information about the Conference and registration materials, please contact Prof. Lucia Silecchia ([email protected]) before Friday, May 28th!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

California Supreme Court Upholds Proposition 8.

By Susan Stabile

I haven't yet read the decision, but you can read it in full here.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Health Care Reform

By Susan Stabile

According to a forthcoming Urban Institute study, in the absense of meaningful federal health care reform, "more than 60 million Americans could be uninsured within 10 years as insurance premiums increase to unsustainable levels for individuals, families, and businesses.  As a result, private coverage will fall, enrollment in public programs will increase, and the number of uninsured will rise.  Middle-income families will be the hardest hit."

I don't confess to have the answer on this issue, but it is clear that our current, primarily employer-based and voluntary, system of providing health insurance coverage is failing millions of Americans.    It is equally clear that this is unacceptable from the standoint of the social teaching of the Catholic Church, which views heatlh care as a basic human right, grounded in the dignity of the human person. (See, e.g., Pacem in Terris, par. 11, or JPII's 1979 Address to the Generaly Assembly of the UN.) 

The Catholic Health Association has suggested that "[t]he promotion, maintenance, and enhancement of health is a social good with societal responsibility shared by individuals, families, health care providers, voluntary agencies, employers, and governmetns."  How that responsibility gets allocated among those various groups so as to ensure access to health care to all Americans is something that must be confronted.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Vatican Examination of Women Religious

By Susan Stabile

Re Richard's post: I may just be slower than others, but there was nothing in my quick perusal of the websites of the two communities to which he linked that gives me a clear indication of why the Vatican thinks this examination is necessary.

It may very well be that the examination is motivated by only positive goals, such as determining why fewer women are entering religious orders (although if that is the case, it is curious that the examination apparently excludes contemplative orders).  However, it is not suprising, especially given the separate doctrinal investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, that some are suspicious that the examination is more about making sure women religious are toeing the line than anything else.  I will be delighted if that suspicion is unfounded.

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