One does not have to believe that early abortions kill human beings to recognize the profound significance of performing, assisting, or procuring an abortion to those who believe it is a killing of a human being.
If we all took the same view of every issue, we would not need a regime of religious liberty. Religious liberty is a response to disagreement on issues that some people on both sides find non-compromisable. It is never an adequate response to a religious liberty claim to say that the claimant is just wrong in how he views the disputed issue. Douglas Laycock Robert E. Scott Distinguished Professor of Law University of Virginia Law School 580 Massie Road Charlottesville, VA 22903 434-243-8546 From: religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu [mailto:religionlaw-boun...@lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of hamilto...@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2012 8:16 AM To: religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu Subject: Re: Court Rejects Religious Liberty Challenges To ACA Mandate--interpreting "substantial burden" A characterization of abortion as "a killing," is a religious assessment, not a medical or constitutional category. A fetus is not a "person" for constitutional purposes. Even abortion foe Justice Scalia has publicly acknowledged that. Therefore, analyzing the cases as though abortion fits into "killing" cases is weaker than Doug has conceded. Moreover, in the conscientious objection cases, the religious objection on the part of Quakers is in favor of peaceful resolution of conflict, which is different from an objection to killing per se, and many COs are not objecting to war in general but rather a particular war. There is no justification for treating those who oppose the medical procedure of abortion on religious grounds any differently than any other religious objector to another medical procedure. For all the reasons that Native Americans cannot avoid the social security number requirement in the welfare context, the Amish cannot avoid Social Security taxes (absent an exemption), and Native Americans cannot force the federal government to use its property according to their beliefs, religiously affiliated employers cannot avoid a neutral, generally applicable requirement that medical insurance include the option, that is triggered solely the patient's decision in consultation with her doctor, of reproductive medical care. Marci Marci A. Hamilton Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law Yeshiva University 55 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10003 (212) 790-0215 hamilto...@aol.com
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