In a letter to the House Education and Labor Committee, the U.S. Catholic bishops have voiced “serious concerns” about the proposed Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA). While opposing unjust discrimination, they said the legislation would “specially protect” any sexual conduct outside of marriage, threaten religious freedom and punish Catholic teachings as discriminatory.
The May 19 letter explained that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) cannot maintain the neutrality towards ENDA it voiced in 2007. Laws like ENDA have been “instrumental” to efforts to redefine marriage, the bishops claimed.
ENDA, put forward in the bills H.R. 3017 and S. 1584, would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of “sexual orientation or gender identity.”
Citing the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the bishops said those with a homosexual inclination must be accepted with respect and sensitivity but that homosexual acts can never be approved.
Turning to one reason that they have decided not to remain neutral on ENDA, the bishops related that they “have seen state Supreme Courts repeatedly rely on state-level ENDAs as a basis for creating a state constitutional right to same-sex ‘marriage’.” If a federal version ENDA is enacted into law, it could be used for similar purposes despite its reference to other laws which protect marriage from redefinition, they said.
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