Chicago, December 18, 2025
Photo: singac.com
The Orthodox Church in America and the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of New Gračanica–Midwestern America have joined the Catholic bishops of Illinois and the Illinois Catholic Health Association in filing an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in the case NIFLA v. Treto.
The brief challenges an Illinois law that requires healthcare providers who do not perform abortions to nevertheless provide patients with referrals to abortion providers and to deliver state-mandated statements promoting abortion in order to receive certain legal protections, reports the OCA.
According to Orthodox teaching, human life is sacred from conception until natural death. The law in question compels pro-life healthcare providers to communicate in ways that contradict their religious beliefs and moral convictions.
Photo: serborth.org
The OCA stated that the freedom to speak and serve according to the faith is essential to the Church’s witness and ministries, and expressed hope that the court will protect the constitutional freedoms that allow religious ministries to serve with integrity and faithfulness.
This is not the first time the OCA has been involved in religious liberty litigation. Over the summer, the OCA joined with other Orthodox jurisdictions to file a federal lawsuit against a Washington state law that would have required priests to break the seal of Confession. In July, a federal judge granted an injunction against that law.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is representing the parties in the Illinois case. It has also represented the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and other parties in litigation involving claims brought by the defrocked cleric Alexander Belya.
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