Catholic Charities in Illinois Seek Remedy for Best Interests of Children, Families

(SPRINGFIELD, IL) Leaders of three Catholic dioceses – the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, Peoria and Joliet – took legal action today as their charities fight to continue their work in serving the best interests of thousands of needy children and families throughout the state.

In March of this year, the Attorney General’s office issued a letter stating that the office “received notice that Catholic Charities … discriminates against Illinois citizens based on race, marital status and sexual orientation” in the provision of foster care and adoption services and demanded that Catholic Charities turn over a wide range of documents in response. The June 1 law authorizing civil unions in Illinois has raised further questions and criticism about Catholic Charities’ longstanding position not to place children for adoption and foster care with non-married couples who live together – regardless of sexual orientation.

This lawsuit, filed in Sangamon County Circuit Court, seeks a declaration that the charities are in full compliance with Illinois law in their current practices and an injunction against further action by Illinois government officials to the contrary. The charities argue both that the Illinois Human Rights Act exempts religious adoption agencies from the provisions relied upon by the Attorney General’s office and that the new Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act includes an express protection for the religious freedom of entities like Catholic Charities.

The charities ask the court to declare that they are legally justified to continue their current practices of working only with married couples and single, non-cohabiting individuals. Civil union couples are free to choose among dozens of other organizations for these services.

“Child welfare advocates know it is in the best interest of Illinois children for Catholic Charities to stay in this business,” said Steven Roach, Executive Director for Catholic Charities in the Springfield Diocese. “It’s tragic that there are people who believe unnecessarily disrupting the lives of thousands of vulnerable children is an acceptable outcome in this situation.”

Catholic Charities have served thousands of children and families with top-quality, nurturing care since 1921 and handle about 20 percent of the cases in Illinois. Charities’ leaders are extremely concerned what will happen with those children and families if they are forced out of this work.

“Religious and faith-based entities need not check their beliefs at the door when providing vital social services for the benefit of needy and vulnerable children and families in Illinois. Catholic Charities has a clear right under Illinois law to pursue its charitable good works in the true spirit of the Gospels and the Sermon on the Mount, faithful to the essential tenets of its Catholic faith. We will advocate strongly to protect Catholic Charities’ continuing its mission of social service,” said Tom Brejcha of the Thomas More Society, which is representing the charities in the lawsuit.

To read the demand letter from the Attorney General’s office and the complaint in the lawsuit, go to www.thomasmoresociety.org.

Pro-life Victory in Greenland, New Hampshire-Thomas More Society Secures First Amendment Rights of Local Activists

June 6, 2011 (New Hampshire)-After nearly twenty-three years of laboring under the threat of arrest whenever pro-life advocates protested the abortion clinic in the town of Greenland, New Hampshire, the Thomas More Society successfully lifted the injunction that threatened pro-lifers for so long.

Local coordinators of the 40 Days for Life Campaign came to the Thomas More Society for help in their efforts to hold 24-hour peaceful and prayerful vigils in their forty-days for life campaign. Vigil leaders knew they would run afoul of the prohibitions in the injunction that restricted the time of day, days of the week, locations, and manner in which pro-lifers could picket the clinic and seek to help women who enter and leave its doors.

In a forceful letter to the town administrator, town selectmen, and police department of Greenland, the Thomas More Society asserted that any application of the stale injunction on 40 Days for Life and affiliated activists would be unlawful, and the very possibility that the town might arrest them or subject them to contempt proceedings placed an unconstitutional chill on free speech. Within days of receiving the letter, Greenland officials conceded that they agreed with the Society’s position and would no longer enforce the injunction against law-abiding, peaceful demonstrators outside the clinic.

Read the entire story HERE.

Founded in 1997, the Thomas More Society is a national public interest law firm that exists to restore respect for life in law. Based in Chicago, the Thomas More Society defends the sanctity of human life, the family and religious liberty in courtrooms across the country.