Catholic bishops call mandatory reporting law ‘brazen act of religious discrimination’

Roman Catholic figures and the U.S. Justice Department are fighting to block enforcement of a law passed by the state legislature and signed by Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson (D) that would add clergy members to the list of people required to report child abuse and neglect — the point of contention surrounds information Catholic clergy learn from people during private confessions.

Implementation of Washington’s controversial law looms large this month, as it is slated to take effect on July 27.

Current law — which does not include clergy among the categories of people who are required to report child abuse — notes that people at a nonprofit or for-profit organization must report child abuse or neglect by an individual they supervise if that individual regularly has unsupervised access to kids in their role at the organization. But there is a carveout stipulating that reporting is not required when the information is fully obtained via privileged communication.

The U.S. government filed a motion for a preliminary injunction last month.