The news is only getting worse for the people of New York after Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill into law that legalizes abortions up to birth. As he was making New York the most pro-abortion state in the nation, the New York State Supreme Court dismissed a case about forcing religious groups to fund abortions.
The Catholic Diocese of Albany challenged the state regulation, arguing it contained a “hidden mandate” to cover abortions in conflict with its beliefs.
Times Union reports state Supreme Court Justice Richard McNally recently dismissed the Albany diocese’s lawsuit, citing a 2006 case in his reasoning. The diocese teamed up with other Catholic entities to challenge the state abortion mandate.
The case was brought against the state Department of Financial Services, its acting superintendent Maria Vullo and insurers, including Capital District Physicians (CDPHP) entities, MVP Health Care, Excellus Health Plan and Independent Health Association.
The church argued that the regulation “surreptitiously mandated coverage for abortion under the service category of ‘medically necessary’ surgery.” State insurance law requires that abortions be covered under health insurance plans, according to the report.
SIGN THE PETITION: Excommunicate Andrew Cuomo for Legalizing Abortions Up to Birth
However, the judge rejected the case, writing, “[I]nsurance policies that provide hospital, surgical, or medical expense coverage delivered or issued for delivery in this state shall not exclude coverage for medically necessary abortions.” McNally cited a 2006 decision where Catholic Charities of the Albany Diocese tried to appeal an act that required insurers to cover the cost of doctor-prescribed contraception.
McNally explained his rationale for the decision:
“(Church officials) believe contraceptives and abortion to be a moral ‘evil’ and the legal mandate compelling coverage for the same a violation of their core religious beliefs causing a deprivation of rights…The court finds the constitutional claims challenged in this case to be (the) same as those raised in Catholic Charities. Given that the Court of Appeal’s addressed and rejected the same arguments, Catholic Charities is binding precedent requiring dismissal of plaintiffs constitutional claims in this matter.”
The Albany diocese plans to file an appeal “due to the critical constitutional and statutory issues surrounding the abortion mandate,” the diocese’s communications director Mary DeTurris Poust said.
News of the ruling comes just after the state adopted a radical pro-abortion law. On Tuesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the law, legalizing abortions for basically any reason up to birth. Cuomo also stated that pro-life people “have no place in the state of New York.”
Bishop Edward Scharfenberger of the Catholic Diocese of Albany wrote a letter to Cuomo criticizing the new pro-abortion law.
“Will being pro-life one day be a hate crime in the State of New York?” Scharfenberger wrote. He said the law’s “aggressive extremism” “threatens to rupture the communion between the Catholic faith and those who support the [law] even while professing to follow the Church.”
On Tuesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York signed into law a bill that would legalize abortions up to birth. The move has prompted worldwide criticism from pro-life people across the globe.
