U.S. bishops voice concern over immigration, gender policies in religious freedom report

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 22, 2025 / 10:20 am (CNA).

Policies related to immigration, gender ideology, abortion, and in vitro fertilization (IVF) are among the top religious liberty concerns heading into 2025, according to a report published by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

The USCCB Committee for Religious Liberty on Jan. 16 issued its Annual Report on the State of Religious Liberty, which highlights the legislative actions, potential executive actions, and U.S. Supreme Court cases the bishops are closely watching.

“We can become anxious that our unpopular positions on issues such as the dignity of all human life and the nature of marriage and the human person require us to compromise our integrity in order to secure political victories,” Bishop Kevin Rhoades of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, wrote in the foreward of the document.

“This jubilee year offers us a chance to reflect on the necessity of patience and long-suffering in our work to bear witness to the truth,” added Rhoades, who chairs the USCCB’s religious liberty committee.

Immigrant-focused and other Catholic organizations

Although the document states that immigration policy “is not itself a religious liberty issue,” it enters the realm of religious liberty “when religious charities and social services are singled out for special hostility, or when their bona fide religious motivations are impugned as pretextual for self-interest.”

The bishops specifically reference Annunciation House, an El Paso-based nonprofit that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is seeking to shut down. The attorney general has accused the Catholic nonprofit of “alien harboring” — an allegation they are contesting in the state Supreme Court.

Other Catholic nonprofits, including Catholic Charities affiliates, have also faced combative actions from state governments for allegedly facilitating illegal immigration — a claim the USCCB has denied.

The bishops also expressed concerns about a House Judiciary Committee investigation into Climate Action 100+ members, which are investors seeking to reduce carbon emissions. The report notes that “several of the companies are Catholic” and following the bishops’ investment guidelines.

Additionally, the USCCB is closely following the Supreme Court case Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Commission, which will determine whether Wisconsin is violating the charity’s First Amendment rights by denying its status as a religious organization because the state does not consider service to the poor to be a typical religious activity.

Bills and policies pushing gender ideology

The bishops are also watching legislation, executive actions, and one Supreme Court case related to gender ideology, including what critics say are efforts to violate religious liberty by implementing rules to prohibit “gender identity” discrimination.

On the legislative side, the bishops are closely following the federal Equality Act, which would prohibit discrimination based on a person’s “gender identity.” The proposal — which lawmakers have introduced several times in recent years — would exclude some religious liberty protections.

The bishops warned the bill would force Catholic hospitals to “perform and promote life-altering gender ‘transitions.’” Some opponents have warned that the language would force hospitals to provide transgender surgeries to patients, including minors. 

Additionally, the USCCB is watching executive actions issued during former President Joe Biden’s administration, which reinterpret “sex” discrimination to include discrimination based on a person’s self-asserted gender identity. 

The Biden administration imposed that interpretation in education and health care regulations, which could have forced schools to blur sex-based separation of bathrooms, locker rooms, dormitories, and sports competitions and could have forced hospitals to perform transgender surgeries on patients, including minors.

President Donald Trump, however, reversed these rules in the first hours of his administration this week. The measures were also facing legal challenges.

The bishops will also follow an ongoing Supreme Court case that will determine whether Tennessee’s ban on minors receiving transgender drugs and surgeries constitutes a form of “sex” discrimination.

Abortion, IVF, and contraception

The bishops are also following abortion, IVF, and contraception mandates that could have an effect on religious liberty. 

On the legislative front, the bishops remain concerned about the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would legalize abortion nationwide and could override “conscience laws, state and federal, that protect the right of health care providers and professionals, employers, and insurers not to perform, assist in, refer for, cover, or pay for abortion,” according to the bishops.

The bishops are also following contraception and abortion-related mandates imposed by the Biden administration, including an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) rule that reinterprets “sex” harassment to include discrimination based on a woman’s decision to have or not have an abortion. 

The rule requires that employers make accommodations for a woman who receives an abortion, which could include mandatory leave. These laws are being challenged in court.

Another concern for bishops is what they called an “intense bipartisan interest” in increasing the availability of IVF. They cited bills that introduce “an IVF mandate into Congress” by mandating insurance coverage, which the USCCB notes is “a mandate with which Catholic institutions cannot comply.”

The bishops expressed support for the Conscience Protection Act, which would bolster religious liberty and conscience protections in health care and health insurance regulatory rules.

Other religious liberty concerns

The bishops are also following other issues that could have religious liberty implications, which includes education, antisemitism, “debanking,” and cultural views about blasphemy. 

According to the bishops, “parental choice in education [is] one of the longest-running areas of concern for American Catholics.” The document references the ongoing Supreme Court case that will determine whether the school board in Montgomery County, Maryland, violated the First Amendment rights of parents by refusing to let them opt out of coursework that promotes gender ideology. 

The bishops are also following some bills, such as the Equal Campus Access Act, which would ensure that religious groups on college campuses receive the same treatment as secular ones.

The document also expresses concern about “widespread antisemitism,” which includes “reports of antisemitic incidents [that] emerged from the campus protests that began following the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel.”

Additionally, the bishops noted certain unique concerns such as “debanking,” which refers to banks closing accounts of people “on the basis of political and religious viewpoints.” The document also highlights the cultural acceptance of blasphemy and sacrilege, specifically noting the mockery of the Last Supper at the Paris Olympics.

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/261707/us-bishops-voice-concern-over-immigration-gender-policies-in-religious-freedom-report