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The Orthodox Church in America has joined the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of New Gračanica–Midwestern America, the Catholic bishops of Illinois and the Illinois Catholic Health Association in filing an amicus brief in the case NIFLA v. Treto in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. The brief challenges a law that requires healthcare providers, which abstain from performing abortions, to nevertheless still provide patients with referrals to abortion providers and to deliver state-mandated statements promoting the supposed benefits of abortion in order to receive certain legal protections.
The Orthodox Church has always taught that human life is sacred, from the moment of conception until natural death. This law threatens that belief by compelling pro-life healthcare providers to speak in ways that contradict their faith and moral convictions.
The Orthodox Church in America has joined this effort because the freedom to speak and serve in accordance with our faith is essential to the Church’s witness and ministries. We pray that the court will safeguard the dignity of all human life and uphold the constitutional freedoms that allow religious ministries to serve with integrity and faithfulness.
The Orthodox Church in America is grateful for the work of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.
