Pregnancy Center Files Religious Discrimination Suit Against N.Y. Over Compulsory Hiring

[Valin]

Washington Free Beacon

N.Y.'s Boss Bill is 'a fundamental effort to crush the pro-life movement'

Graham Piro

February 8, 2020

A charity that helps pregnant women and newborns is fighting a New York state law that requires nonprofits and religious institutions to hire employees who openly contradict their beliefs.

EMC Frontline, a crisis pregnancy center, is suing to block New York from enforcing the so-called Boss Bill, which state Democrats passed in 2019. The law prohibits employers from discriminating against prospective workers based on their beliefs about abortion. EMC founder Chris Slattery said the law represents "a fundamental effort to crush the pro-life movement" by targeting pro-life church institutions and nonprofits.

"When you have a pro-life group that’s dedicated to work[ing] against abortion, for them to hire an opponent is patently absurd," Slattery told the Washington Free Beacon. "For Catholic schools to have to hire pro-choice school teachers, priests, bishops, deacons—it’s patently absurd."

The law prohibits employers from deciding not to hire an employee based on the employee's or an employee's dependent's "reproductive health decisions." It also prevents employers from accessing "an employee’s personal information regarding the employee's or the dependent's reproductive health decision making," including "the decision to use or access a particular drug, device, or medical service." New York City passed a similar law shortly after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the statewide "Boss Bill" in November. 

(Snip)