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CA Supreme Court To Bigots: Yes, You Have To Actually Do Your Jobs
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The California Supreme Court has continued its longstanding track record of providing inexhaustible fodder for the right wing chain e-mail we all get from our conservative relatives, today handing down a verdict that, in fact, doctors cannot deny heath care simply because an invisible Sky God says so:
California's high court on Monday barred doctors from withholding medical care to gays and lesbians based on religious beliefs, ruling that state law prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination extends to the medical profession. The ruling was unanimous, a contrast to the state Supreme Court's 4-3 schism in May legalizing gay marriage.
Justice Joyce Kennard wrote in the ruling that two Christian fertility doctors who refused to artificially inseminate a lesbian have neither a free speech right nor a religious exemption from the state's law, which "imposes on business establishments certain antidiscrimination obligations."
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Obviously, this is good news for our non hetero fellow citizens who might, you know, feel entitled to some medical care. Let's never forget that no one forces Christian bigots* (and bigots of other religions) to enter professions that requrie them to provide services to people they despise. On the other hand, it remains to be seen whether or not this ruling will affect the movement to deny women access to contraception that has most recently been all but adopted by the Bush Adminstration. The Religious Right has essentially adopted a policy based on lies, and inflitration of legitimate professions in order to undermine them. Here's hoping we can expect more rulings that cast a light on these tactics, and obviously, protects the rights of All Americans.
Meanwhile, in honor of this ruling, might I direct your attention to this?
*Not to be confused with Christians who aren't bigots.
Photo "Coat hangers" by Matt Callow via Flikr.
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