A California appellate court ruled that Catholic Charities must provide its employees with birth control as part of its prescription drug coverage, despite the church's position that birth control is sinful. The charity would be exempt from the requirement, and thus remain true to church doctrine, only if they employed or served an overwhelming preponderance of Catholics, which would decrease their effectiveness.

[Ed.: This decision failed to get a rise out of critics of the Bush administration's proposal to direct public funds to faith-based charities, widely regarded as an erosion of church/state separation.]

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