'Deeply wrong': bishops criticize Biden administration for dropping case involving conscience law (USCCB)

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has responded to the Biden administration’s decision to withdraw a lawsuit against a Vermont hospital that required a nurse to participate in an abortion procedure despite her moral objections.

“The US Department of Justice is acting in dereliction of its duty to enforce the plain meaning of federal law,” said Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Archbishop Joseph Naumann, who chair the bishops’ religious liberty and pro-life committees. “It is hard to imagine a more horrific civil rights violation than being forced to take an innocent human life. HHS found that the University of Vermont Medical Center forced a nurse, against her known religious beliefs, to do just that. This is not only deeply wrong, but a violation of federal law.”