A federal lawsuit filed in U.S. district court this week claims leaders in the state of Michigan targeted a Catholic charity for following the teachings of the Catholic Church.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, alleges that state Attorney General Dana Nessel, state Health and Human Services Director Elizabeth Hertel, and other government officials engaged in a “pattern of religious targeting” against the charity in order to pressure it to “abandon its beliefs.”
The suit says government officials met with the charity in March 2026 and “raised concerns” about the organization’s core values, including the requirement that staff sign a pledge related to matters on abortion and adoption, among other issues.
After that meeting, a state-contracted insurance distributor “adopted a brand-new policy specifically targeting Catholic Charities’ religious beliefs and practices.” Part of the new policy included a disclosure requirement regarding “service limitations” related in part to abortion and gay marriage, the suit says.
The state health department subsequently discontinued its designation of the charity’s Cristo Rey Community Center as a women’s specialty service provider, the suit says, with the government stipulating that the charity must make “policy and procedural changes” in order to have that designation reinstated.
The suit says the government has “completely ignored” the charity’s efforts to obtain clarification about the alleged policy violations. The state-contracted insurance facilitator, meanwhile, has stopped referring clients to the charity for women’s services, according to the filing.
The decisions by the state government violates religious discrimination protections in the U.S. Constitution, the lawsuit says, while women in the region have been “left without access to the faith-based, relationship-centered treatment that Catholic Charities’ ministry uniquely provides.”
The suit, which was filed by attorneys with the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, asks the court to reverse the state government’s decisions and further prevent it from withholding federal grant funding from the charity.
The state attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the suit. But this is not the first time the state government has tangled with a Catholic charity.
In 2019 St. Vincent Catholic Charities filed a suit against the state over its requirement that adoption agencies must match children with same-sex couples in order to receive state funding.
The charity ultimately won a settlement with the government in 2022 allowing it to continue its adoption services without violating its Catholic identity.
