Illinois diocese asks court to block law requiring it to hire nonbelievers

A Catholic diocese and a pregnancy center in Illinois are asking a federal appeals court to strike down a state law that they say would force them to hire workers who disagree with their religious and pro-life missions.

The Diocese of Springfield in March 2025 had filed suit against the state alongside the Pregnancy Care Center of Rockford. Both parties had argued that the Illinois Human Rights Act “dictates how religious employers must speak and act about employees’ voluntary reproductive decisions like abortion, contraception, and sterilization.”

That law “prohibits employers from disciplining or refusing to hire employees” regarding their decisions about abortion and further “requires employers to grant employee accommodations” regarding abortion, the lawsuit said.

A district court dismissed the lawsuit in March of this year, claiming the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue. On June 3 the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing both the diocese and the pregnancy center, said it had filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit over the dispute.

The district court had ruled that the alleged religious liberty violations were “speculative,” according to the filing; the appeals brief called the courtʼs conclusion “erroneous.”

“The ministries currently engage in constitutionally protected conduct that the [the state law] arguably proscribes, and the State has repeatedly refused to disavow enforcement,” the filing says.

The suit argues that the dispute “would be no different if a pro-life state government was forcing abortion clinics to hire pro-life employees and speak pro-life messages.” In either case, “the First Amendment doesn’t allow [it].”

Springfield Bishop Thomas Paprocki said in the Alliance Defending Freedom press release that the diocese “proclaims, teaches, and encourages Catholics to live out all the teachings of the Church, including the dignity and value of human life.”

“Our employees represent the diocese and are expected to uphold our standards of conduct to ensure they align with the doctrine and moral teaching of the Catholic Church,” the bishop said.

Under the Illinois law “we cannot hire or retain employees based on our deeply held religious beliefs on pro-life teachings without being subject to disciplinary action,” the bishop continued, adding: “We must have the freedom to follow and express our convictions without government interference.”