Federal Judge Rules In Favor Of Teacher Challenging Ohio Law On Union Membership Due To Abortion-Rights Stance

U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frost on Thursday ruled an Ohio law that allows only members of religions with "historically held conscientious objections" to union membership to opt out is discriminatory, the Columbus Dispatch reports.

The case involves Carol Katter, a Catholic teacher in the St. Mary's School District in western Ohio who opposes abortion rights. Katter said she refused to pay dues to the National Education Association because she said the union supports abortion rights. Katter sued the State Employment Relations Board after the panel ruled against her claim for a religious exemption, the Dispatch reports.

Frost in his ruling wrote that the law discriminates among religions by recognizing the Mennonite and Seventh-day Adventist objections to joining unions while denying the same right to others. "The statute further differentiates between two employees who have the same religious beliefs, are members of churches with formal doctrines against supporting labor unions, but one of the churches has recently embraced a doctrine, while the other has historically embraced it."

Frost ruled that Katter and others who opt out of unions will have to pay the equivalent of their dues to qualified nonreligious charities and will be entitled to the protections of the union. The NEA and the Ohio Education Association did not return calls for comment (Nash, Columbus Dispatch, 6/26).

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