GRAND FORKS (ND)
Grand Forks Herald
February 1, 2021
By C.S. Hagen
https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/government-and-politics/6867218-North-Dakota-bill-to-close-child-abuse-reporting-loophole-nixed-after-Catholic-opposition
Backers of the bill said it was not aimed at the Catholic Church. But the legislation came at a time when North Dakota dioceses were under scrutiny for historical inaction on child sex abuse.
Bismarck – A bill that would have required North Dakota clergy to report cases of child abuse and neglect learned during confession or other private religious conversations has been withdrawn from consideration this session.
Current state law presents a loophole that does not mandate that pastors, priests and other clergy report abuse to a law enforcement agency if it’s information received when acting as a spiritual advisor.
The withdrawal of Senate Bill 2180 on Friday, Jan. 29, came after the Catholic Church publicly condemned the legislation as “draconian.”
In a Jan. 20 letter, William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, said that legislation to break the seal of the confessional was a “direct assault on our faith.”
On the Senate floor, bill co-sponsor Sen. Judy Lee, R-West Fargo, asked for it to be withdrawn, saying that because of a “lack of understanding about the goal and the circumstances, the bill has become a distraction.”
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