LANSING, Mich. – Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a federal lawsuit Friday on behalf of a Catholic ministry challenging Michigan officials for trying to force it to abandon its religious beliefs in exchange for serving the public.
For years, Catholic Charities of Ingham, Eaton & Clinton Counties has faithfully served vulnerable communities in the Lansing region. The Catholic ministry provides healthcare, dental, and mental health services; substance use treatment; counseling; financial coaching; adoption and foster care; assistance with food, clothing, and prescription drugs; refugee resettlement; and immigration legal assistance.
Yet when government officials learned of the ministry’s religious beliefs about abortion and contraception—guided by the teachings of the Catholic Church on the sanctity of life and the dignity of the human person—they launched an investigation, crafted new policies targeting those beliefs, and ultimately stripped the ministry of critically needed state funding.
“Catholic Charities is a force for good in the Lansing region, serving at-risk populations within its community with practical and spiritual resources. Yet because it operates in accordance with the teachings of the Catholic Church, Michigan officials who disagree with its views on the sanctity of human life have targeted the ministry and withheld public benefits,” said ADF Senior Counsel Jeremiah Galus. “The Constitution forbids the government from punishing faith-based organizations in this way, which is why we’re urging the court to restore Catholic Charities’ First Amendment freedom to continue serving Lansing women and families according to its religious beliefs.”
“Rooted in Jesus’ love and guided by the teachings of the Catholic Church, Catholic Charities exists to serve the most vulnerable populations within the Lansing region,” said Deacon Bob Bauer, interim CEO of Catholic Charities. “In particular, the work at our Cristo Rey Counseling Center helps mothers overcome mental health and substance use disorders and live healthy, fulfilled lives for themselves and their children. Yet the state is on a mission to shut us down, not because of any complaint or failure on our part, but simply because of our religious beliefs about the dignity of human life.”
Annually, Catholic Charities serves nearly 79,000 individuals and operates out of two locations in Lansing, the Cristo Rey and St. Vincent campuses. Cristo Rey Counseling Center is licensed by the state and provides broad counseling services for individuals and families. The center served as a designated Women’s Specialty Services and Enhanced Women’s Services provider through Michigan’s health department for more than 10 years, maintaining compliance with all program requirements; it’s the only provider in the Lansing region that delivers these specialty treatment services to women. In 2024 and 2025, Cristo Rey provided nearly 400 therapy sessions to women through these programs.
In March, state health officials and Mid-State Health Network, which contracts directly with local substance use disorder treatment providers to deliver Medicaid and Block Grant funded services at the community level, demanded a meeting with Catholic Charities to discuss the ministry’s religious beliefs and practices. Following the meeting, and without any warning, state officials abruptly discontinued Cristo Rey’s women’s specialty service provider designations after more than a decade of successful partnership. The officials provided no meaningful explanation for their conclusion and offered no complaint, audit finding, or quality concern. The sole basis for the discontinuation was Cristo Rey’s “internal policies and procedures,” that is, its religious beliefs and practices.
Mid-State Health Network then immediately demanded that Catholic Charities stop taking any new admissions into the women’s treatment programs and to develop a plan to transition existing clients. It has also stopped referring women to the ministry’s programs. Because Catholic Charities is committed to ensuring that no client experiences any disruption in care because of the government’s action, it has offered to continue providing those clients with the same services and to cover the cost itself consistent with its faith-based policy of serving everyone regardless of their finances.
ADF attorneys filed the lawsuit, Catholic Charities of Ingham, Eaton & Clinton Counties v. Hertel, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, Southern Division.
- Pronunciation guide: Galus (GAL’-us)
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
# # #