Bus Driver Sues After Refusing to Take Woman to Planned Parenthood

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) has an unbiased-sounding name, but it's actually a tool of the Religious Right founded by Pat Robertson, "dedicated to defending and advancing religious liberty, the sanctity of human life, and the two-parent, marriage-bound family." The ACLJ is a major proponent of "conscience clauses," under which health care providers can get out of doing their job if it goes against their beliefs, and backed a Kmart pharmacist who denied birth control pill to women with a valid prescription. Now, ACLJ is trying to extend this protection to bus drivers who refuse to transport women to locations they object to.

Texas bus driver Edwin Graning is suing his former employer for firing him when he refused to do his job. Tasked with driving a woman to Planned Parenthood, he balked under the argument that she might be going for an abortion. Of course, she just as easily might have been going for birth control, sex education, a pregnancy test, or adoption counseling, but none of that really matters — if the woman were going for an abortion, that is fully within her rights.

I consider a man attempting to control a woman's choices about her own body to be anti-woman and misogynistic. But I'm going to be sympathetic to Graning's motivation. I believe women's ability to access abortion is a positive, moral good. On the other hand, I pay taxes toward things I believe are morally wrong, such as the Iraq War. I could partake in a civil disobedience action and refuse to pay, but I'd have to accept being open to prosecution. If I were a bus driver who refused to transport an American soldier to the airport because I thought he might be en route to fighting in Iraq, I could expect to be fired. And I wouldn't be justified in suing.

If Graning truly believed that he could not "in good conscience" drive the woman due to the possibility that she was going for an abortion, perhaps he made the right choice for himself. But the woman still had the right to be transported, for whatever reason, and that right must be protected against outside infringement. As it's the bus company's responsibility to make certain that passengers can get where they want to go, firing Graning would be the appropriate response, because in refusing, Graning proved that he is incapable of reliably doing his job.

Graning's lawsuit seeks reinstatement as a bus driver, missed pay, and compensation for all his pain, suffering, and emotional distress. While I'm willing to be empathetic regarding his personal decision not to drive, even though I think it's fueled by a misogynistic belief system, I'm not sympathetic to his suit. Should Graning win, it would basically be saying that any individual bus driver can make decisions about his route based on religious factors, and women cannot trust basic transportation to meet their needs, which is exactly why the ACLJ has taken on this case. The organization would love to throw up any additional obstacle to women exercising their reproductive rights.

If Graning has told the truth about his beliefs, he can sleep soundly knowing that he did not contribute to an event which might have been something he believes is morally wrong. That's his compensation.

Photo credit: Gene Hunt