A federal ACLU lawsuit claims Catholic bishops are wrongly imposing their religious beliefs on victims of human trafficking by prohibiting grant money to be used for emergency contraception, condoms and abortion care.The Boston Herald reports that the American Civil Liberties Union filed the complaint in federal court in Boston against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The suit claims HHS, which distributes funds to help trafficking victims, has allowed the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to limit the services its subcontractors provide.
The ACLU claims the bishops' conference is misusing taxpayer money and attempting to impose its religious beliefs on trafficking victims.
The federal government estimates that between 14,500 and 17,500 people - mostly women - are brought into the United States each year and exploited for labor, often prostitution.
Through the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, a law passed by Congress in 2000, the federal government distributes money to cover services needed by victims of severe forms of trafficking.
The bishops' conference began administering the funds under the trafficking law in 2006, using social service organizations as subcontractors to provide the services.
In its lawsuit, the ACLU said the agreements between the conference and the subcontractors explicitly prohibit them from using the funds to provide "referral for abortion services or contraceptive materials."
"We will continue to provide those services in the contract that are consistent with our belief in the life and dignity of the human person," said Sr. Mary Ann Walsh, a spokeswoman for the bishops' conference, which was not named as a defendant in the complaint.
In its lawsuit, the ACLU said the bishops' conference has received a total of $6 million since 2006 under the program. Some of the services provided include food stamps, torture treatment and career counseling.
The Bush administration, backed by evangelicals, made the battle against sex slavery a high priority, appointing former Republican U.S. Rep. John R. Miller as an ambassador on slavery for the State Department and leader of its Office to Monitor and Combat Human Trafficking.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce
(Source: CTHUS)