Right to Life of Michigan and Pregnancy Resource Center of Grand Rapids have filed a lawsuit challenging an amendment to the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, a state employment law that now forces them to recruit and hire individuals who oppose their fundamental beliefs and mission.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the law firm representing the pro-life organizations, says the government cannot act in this way.
"Both of these organizations exist for the very purpose of promoting the sanctity of life, which they believe begins at the moment of conception, and so these are two distinctly pro-life organizations. Their entire existence is to advocate for that view," explains ADF attorney Bryan Neihart.
Like other nonprofit organizations, he points out that they rely on their employees to advocate for their views and to promote their views, "and so they expect their employees to be 100% on board with their beliefs about the value of life."
ADF finds it concerning that the government is trying to tell the Pregnancy Resource Center, an organization of faith, that it must hire employees and accept volunteers that fundamentally disagree with their core beliefs.
Right to Life of Michigan is a secular organization, but Neihart asserts the government still has no authority in its hiring decisions.
"Regardless of their particular views on abortion, it's important that the First Amendment stand in the gap to prevent governments from compelling organizations to undermine their mission," the attorney contends.
Neihart likens it to a government telling the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to hire people who support discrimination.
"Those types of government intrusion don't make sense," he reiterates.
ADF has filed a preliminary injunction which, if granted, would prevent Michigan from enforcing its law against the pro-life organizations as the case proceeds.
Neihart expects briefing for that to be done sometime in April and then a ruling sometime after that.
