Abortion rule blocked from being enforced against US Conference of Catholic Bishops

A federal judge has barred the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from enforcing a workplace rule that requires employers to accommodate abortion-related procedures against the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The ruling will remain in effect while a larger legal challenge against the rule proceeds.

The order, issued on Wednesday by Judge David Joseph, prohibits the EEOC from enforcing its final regulation against the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and other Catholic entities in ways that would compel them to act against their religious beliefs.

The ruling also blocks the agency from initiating investigations into these institutions for refusing to support procedures such as abortion, surrogacy or in vitro fertilization. The injunction replaces an earlier order that had provided narrower relief, protecting the bishops only from enforcement in cases where an abortion was deemed elective.

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