US Aid distributed through charitable organizations like churches legally mandate family planning help
Non-profit organizations including Catholic Charities are providing clothing and food to the thousands of vulnerable, unaccompanied children who have been apprehended while crossing the US border illegally. Volunteers at the overcrowded clinics must go through background checks to provide care for the young Latinos, who hope not to encounter new predators there. But the core faith systems of many religious volunteers oppose the services they are legally required to provide, including sensitivity to transgender identification issues. A background check that assures compliance with a requirement that goes against closely held beliefs is very difficult to administer.
The Department of Health and Human Services has earmarked $350 million to care for illegal minors at the border. Organizations that receive some of this money, including Catholic Charities, are expected to provide services that include family planning services (including contraception) and they also “must deliver care in a manner that is sensitive to sexual orientation and gender identity.” With the latest Hobby Lobby Supreme Court decision–which ruled that corporations with religious owners can’t be required to pay for contraception in health insurance plans–is Catholic Charities off the hook for providing family planning services?
