SCOTUS Rejects Church/State Cases

The decidedly right-leaning SCOTUS has only been at work a couple of hours and already set the stage by refusing to grant certiorari to two church-state cases and social conservative groups are not going to be pleased. High Court won’t hear two religion cases – Yahoo! News.

One case was about religious organizations paying for worker’s birth control health insurance benefits. NY requires them to and various social service agencies said it violated their 1st amendment right to practice their religion which says birth control is sinful. I think this was a good ruling. Birth control isn’t just to prevent births. It is widely used for control of conditions like endometriosis, very painful period cramps and treatment of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, so it is a health care product like any other. My sister was 13 when she got her period and her cramps were so bad that she almost passed out. They crippled her. My parents were not happy about the birth control option, but it made the world of difference for her health, so they did it. It was that, or have her take prescription painkillers every month.

The other case was over a group of evangelicals who want to hold religious services at a public library. The court in San Francisco said no. Well, get my smelling salts. Who would have expected San Fran to make that ruling? Well, SCOTUS reviewed the case and sees no reason for them to review it. I’m not sure how I feel about this. Even though I’m not a huge fan of organized religion, you know that I love me some Jesus:) and I hate to see a needy group that can’t afford their own place, be turned away. Isn’t it possible for them to use a room in the library as long as they aren’t disturbing the rest of the library or trying to involve the library patrons? The Associated Press: Court Turns Down Evangelical Group