Health-Care Access at Risk in High Court LGBT Foster Care Case

The Supreme Court’s ruling in a fight over the city of Philadelphia’s refusal to continue contracting with a Catholic foster care agency that discriminates against same-sex couples could have a major impact on health care.

If the court rules broadly and grants the religious exemption Catholic Social Services is after, it could open the door for other challenges against anti-discrimination protections in government contracting, legal scholars say. That could put LGBTQ people particularly at risk of being refused treatment by religiously affiliated hospitals and health systems, many of which rely on federal funding to survive.

Catholic hospitals treat more ...