Equality Act: more harm than good

Richard A. Sokerka

On the surface, the Equality Act, which was reintroduced in Congress this month and would add anti-discrimination protections for sexual orientation and gender identity to existing protections for race, color, national origin, sex, disability and religion, seems innocuous enough to many Americans.

However, in a letter to members of the U.S. Senate, three bishops warned that while the proposed Equality Act purports to address issues of discrimination, it would actually create new problems and threaten fundamental freedoms.

The Equity Act would apply not just to employment, but also to areas like housing, jury duty, credit, and education, as well as emergency shelters, among others. It would also specify facility access for self-identified transgender persons, such as access to male and female bathrooms.

“This proposed legislation does not accomplish what its supporters assert, but rather creates new difficulties and will hurt more people than its designers want to help,” the bishops said, urging Senators to oppose the bill.

The letter was signed by Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ religious liberty committee; Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, head of the Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage; and Bishop Frank Dewane of Venice, chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.

“As a nation we have a laudable history of confronting and overcoming unjust discrimination and attempting to balance the rights of various groups,” the bishops wrote. “As Catholics, we share in this work of justice. In this, we whole-heartedly support nondiscrimination to ensure that everyone’s rights are protected.”

But, unfortunately, instead of providing protections, the Equality Act would create regulations that would harm society, according to the bishops.

They warned that the legislation would threaten the right to free speech, conscience and exercise of religion by making illegal certain beliefs about the human person — held by many individuals and groups. It would particularly threaten religious freedom, a foundational principle of the American founding, by exempting itself from the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a move that the bishops noted is “unprecedented.”

The Equality Act would also put many charitable organizations at risk, requiring adoption agencies place children with same-sex couples, even if this violates their beliefs and the birth mother’s wishes, the bishops wrote. The legislation would require health professionals to provide “gender transition” treatments and surgeries in violation of their medical and ethical judgments.

These flaws in the Equity Act point to the fact that it will do more harm than good and we urge members of Congress to oppose this legislation.