In North Coast etc. v. San Diego Super. Ct. S142892 (Cal. Aug. 18th, 2008), the California Supreme Court determined that the fundamental rights of religious freedom and free speech do not “exempt a medical clinic’s physicians from complying with the California Unruh Civil Rights Act’s prohibition against discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation.” A couple salient quotations:
Thus, under the United States Supreme Court’s most recent holdings, a religious objector has no federal constitutional right to an exemption from a neutral and valid law of general applicability on the ground that compliance with that law is contrary to the objector’s religious beliefs. (emphasis in original) (…)
Notwithstanding these statutory obligations, defendant physicians remain free to voice their objections, religious or otherwise, to the Act’s prohibition against sexual orientation discrimination. “For purposes of the free speech clause, simple obedience to a law that does not require one to convey a verbal or symbolic message cannot reasonably be seen as a statement of support for the law or its purpose. Such a rule would, in effect, permit each individual to choose which laws he would obey merely by declaring his agreement or opposition.” (Catholic Charities, supra, 32 Cal.4th at pp. 558-559.)
Via the Pacific Justice Institute.
