Workplace Religious Freedom Act

Rick Santorum is trying to rush a bill through the U.S. Senate that would protect workers who seek to refuse to carry out job duties on religious grounds. (See an ACLU action alert here, on the ACLU web site.)

I've always thought this was bogus. There is no logical stopping point if we protect, for example, pharmacists that refuse to dispense birth control.

What about Christian Scientist emergency room doctors? Do I have to die on the table while they refuse to do anything but pray over me?

What about conservative Catholic secretaries working at family planning clinics? Do we have to make sure they get to keep their job even though they refuse to schedule a whole category of appointments?

What about members of the ministry who lose their faith? Should the government force church congregations to pay nouveau-atheists who refuse to preach?