“Mother, may I go out to swim; Yes, my darling daughter. Hang your clothes on the hickory limb, but don’t go near the water!”
Contradictions and conundrums appear in all dimensions of life. This little ditty is both illogical and paradoxical. Trying to follow through on this kind of instruction is like the man who paints himself into a corner. There is no way out without spoiling what he has just finished painting.
Winding its way through the courts for the past 7 years is a case that is chock full of contradictions. A young woman in New Jersey was employed as a teacher in a Catholic School. When she was asked to take on some additional responsibilities, she informed the Sister-Principal that she was pregnant and would not be able to do so. According to court records, the principal told her that she was being terminated “… because she was pregnant and unmarried.” She sued and the case is still unresolved 7 years later.
Specifically, the Superior Court of New Jersey is being asked to determine whether the school’s knowledge of her pregnancy can serve as the basis of her termination “… for violating the school’s moral code.” An appeals court has twice upheld the teacher’s contention that her firing was unjustified and unlawful. The school has appealed these rulings based on First Amendment grounds. The whole case will most likely end up in the US Supreme Court at some time in the future.
There are all kinds of legal issues in this case. At the core is the argument that religious liberty, guaranteed under our Constitution, can be used as an argument to discriminate against people who do not follow the moral code of religious organizations. How the Supreme Court eventually shapes its response will have broad implications for many years to come! Putting this larger issue aside, this case should cause concern because of what it says to the world about the Catholic Church.
The teacher’s name is Victoria Crisitello. Had she kept her pregnancy quiet and had an abortion, she would still have her job today. Had she known that her decision to keep her baby would result in her termination, she may very well have decided that she could not bring her child into the world.
There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the official Catholic Church in the United States is vehemently opposed to abortion under any circumstances. The bishops have gone so far as to suggest that opposition to abortion is the pre-eminent moral issue of our day. (It is important to note that Pope Francis does not hold this opinion.) The bishops refer to this position as being Pro-Life. Parenthetically, it should be noted that the bishops support eliminating the coverage of contraceptives in health care plans for employees of Catholic institutions. This is not part of Ms. Crisitello’s lawsuit but does provide some interesting observations about her pregnancy.
The contradictions in this legal battle are fairly obvious. Ms. Crisitello made a Pro-Life decision when she decided to have her baby. This is what the bishops would like all women to do. When she made this decision, however, it caused her to lose her job. When single women are pregnant, some of the reasons that they chose to terminate their pregnancies are the lack of financial resources and other supports for expectant mothers. Her firing from her job, putting her economic stability at risk, could very well have caused her to change her Pro-Life decision to have her baby.
This case puts into bold relief what it really means to be Pro-Life vs. Anti-Abortion. If Jesus had been the principle of the Catholic school in question, what would He have done? My suspicion is that He would have supported Ms. Crisitello’s decision to have her baby, not fired her and informed the school community that celebrating life is always the best option. Doing so would not jeopardize the school’s moral code but send a clear message about unconditional love.
Some bishops today want to deny Holy Communion to people like President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi because they feel it is scandalous that they approach the altar even though they do not support the bishops’ positions on abortion. What seems to be more scandalous is the treatment of the New Jersey school teacher who was penalized for doing exactly what the bishops would have wanted. Being Pro-Life needs to be far more than Anti-Abortion. It should include supporting pre-natal care for all expectant mothers, especially those who are single and poor. It should include support for infants and children after birth. It should include paid maternity leave for all employees of Catholic institutions and not left to the decisions of pastors and other administrators of Catholic entities. It should include support for the elimination of capital punishment and so much more.
The defense of religious liberty is an important aspect of our First Amendment. Caution needs to be applied liberally, however, when it causes unjust discrimination and the potential for outright harm. If this case makes it to the US Supreme Court, we should hope that all this will be considered.
God Bless! Msgr. Paul