Belmont Abbey College
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This July, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) accused Belmont Abbey College, a Roman Catholic liberal arts college in North Carolina, of discriminating against its female employees by not covering contraceptives in its health insurance plan. The EEOC stated that this was gender discrimination “because only females take oral prescription contraceptives.”
In August, Belmont Abbey College asked the EEOC to reconsider its determination. The EEOC has not yet responded to the college’s request for reconsideration.
What is Belmont Abbey College?
Belmont Abbey College is a small liberal arts school located outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. It was founded in 1876 by a congregation of Benedictine monks who built the campus with bricks they formed by hand from the red clay of the North Carolina soil. The school’s motto is, “that in all things God may be glorified” (1 Peter 4:11).
What’s this all about?
In 2007, Belmont Abbey College removed coverage for abortion, contraception, and voluntary sterilization from its plan in 2007, after learning that these procedures had accidentally been included in its employee insurance plan, in direct violation of the college’s religious tenets. Following the change in coverage, eight faculty members filed complaints with the EEOC and the North Carolina Department of Insurance.
In March of 2009, the EEOC reported that it found no evidence of gender discrimination, but on July 30, it reversed its decision and sent a letter stating, “By denying prescription contraceptive drugs, [Belmont Abbey College] is discriminating based on gender because only females take oral contraceptives.”
The College has chosen to fight back and enlisted the help of the Becket Fund to defend it.
What are the issues?
The Becket Fund’s President, Seamus Hasson has said that “This case is a very important part of a much larger battle – the battle to protect the good name of conscientious objection in America. Ever since the Quakers, with their gentle stubbornness, persuaded a skeptical America that they should not have to swear oaths or serve in the military against their consciences, we have recognized that principled people are an asset to a society, not a liability.” Hasson has also said that “The EEOC’s action is a direct assault on the principle of conscientious objection itself, and we will resist it vigorously.”
What is at stake here is the ability of any religious institution – church, college, or charity – to live in accordance with its convictions, even when the government does not approve. Eric Kniffin, Legal Counsel for the Becket Fund, emphasizes that the case isn’t an argument over Catholic doctrine or forcing others to abide by it: “This is not about telling the faculty what they can or can’t do. This is about whether the school can be compelled to facilitate what it believes to be immoral activity.”
More information:
Press Releases:
“Belmont Abbey College retains religious liberty law firm to defend itself against EEOC,” November 2, 2009
News Coverage:
Weekly Standard - The Persecution of Belmont Abbey
World Magazine – Abbey’s Road
EWTN - Belmont Abbey Retains Becket Fund To Defend Against Contraception Ruling
National Catholic Register - When ‘Rights’ to the Pill Trump the First Amendment
Catholic News Agency - Belmont Abbey retains Becket Fund to defend against contraception ruling
Wall Street Journal - Look Who’s Discriminating Now
The Philadelphia Inquirer - The Elephant in the Room: Christian Freedoms at Risk
News Observer - Birth control test case
The John William Pope Center - Bureaucrats at the Gate
Resources & Documents:
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