Planned Parenthood Enlists 'Faith Leaders' to Condemn Religious Liberty

Soon after President Trump issued his executive order on "Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty," which includes potential "conscience protections" for those with religious objections to certain health insurance mandates, Planned Parenthood issued a press release noting that some "faith leaders" condemned the executive orders. Faith leaders who belong to Planned Parenthood's own "Clergy Advisory Board (CAB)."

These leaders fear that Trump's order will lead to "employers, schools, and other entities [refusing] to cover women's preventive health services, including birth control, in their insurance plans on the basis of religious or moral objection. The irony of citing religious freedom as a reason to prevent employers from choosing the type of insurance coverage they want to offer to employees is lost on the Clergy Advisory Board:

This country has a long and vital tradition of religious freedom that protects personal beliefs without allowing the imposition of harms on others. Yet, this executive order signals that the administration wants to give employers the right to disregard their employees' own personal beliefs and invade their privacy. It is unacceptable to point to "religious liberty" as an excuse to limit women's access to health care.

The CAB does not object, however, to citing morality and even theology as a reason to compel employers to disregard their own personal beliefs and invade their privacy by forcing them to cover that to which Planned Parenthood believes all women are entitled. Under the heading "Background on the Planned Parenthood Federation of America Clergy Advocacy Board," Planned Parent says the CAB consists of "dedicated clergy and faith leaders from different denominations and communities throughout the U.S. [who] lead a national effort to increase public awareness of the theological and moral basis for advocating reproductive health." [emphasis added]

And the CAB is not simply referring to birth control mandates alone as morally and theologically correct. The Planned Parenthood website also hosts a CAB document titled "Pastoral Letter to Patients" justifying abortion: