Leave it to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to get right to the heart of the crisis of unaccompanied minors pouring over our virtually undefended Southern Border.
Instead of urging young Hondurans, Mexicans, Guatemalans and other Central American youth to stay home and not illegally enter the United States, the ACLU is demanding charities that provide assistance to the young illegals also provide abortions.
According to reports, 60-80% of female illegal minors crossing the border are subjected to sexual assault. So, in the ACLU’s mind, this means charities like the U.S. Conference of catholic Bishops, who contract with the government to provide services to the illegals must also provide contraception and abortions on demand.
The ACLU reports that recently, the federal government released proposed regulations requiring federal contractors who care for unaccompanied minors to provide access to contraception, emergency contraception, and abortion if a teen has been raped. In response, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, one of the groups that received a government-funded contract to provide care to these teens, said any requirement that they provide information about contraception or abortion, even a referral or the arrangement for such services, would violate their religious freedom.
USCCB argues that its religious beliefs should allow it to violate the terms of the contract.
Many of the faith-based groups working with the unaccompanied illegal minors would scale back participation rather than submit to the ACLU’s demand.
The new rule would leave faith-based groups with no choice but “to restrict their work,” which “could create an unmanageable backlog for services” for unaccompanied minor children.
“We believe that, through practical discussions, we can find a resolution that allows the government to fulfill its obligation to care for unaccompanied children, while also respecting the religious and moral beliefs of faith-based organization that, to date, have provided such critical care for this vulnerable population,” the bishops’ group said.
Six out of the nine national refugee resettlement groups in the United States are faith-based agencies, the bishops also noted.
