07/27/10
 The facts in the case are not in dispute. CARTS, the bus company Graning worked for, offers door to door service in a rural area. In January, Graning was directed to pick up two women and transport them to a Planned Parenthood clinic. He refused on the grounds that Planned Parenthood provides abortions and these women might be travelling there with that purpose in mind. Graning does not allege that the women were going to get an abortion. His concern was that they might be going to Planned Parenthood for that purpose, although abortions make up only 3% of the services Planned Parenthood provides according to information on their website. His employment was terminated later that day.
Graning believes that CARTS should have made reasonable accommodations for his religious beliefs by sending a different driver and that firing him is a violation of his civil rights. The bus company maintains, unsurprisingly, that he was fired not for his beliefs but for failure to carry out an integral part of his duties as an employee.
The truth is it doesn't matter if the passengers were intending to get an abortion or just on their way to meet a friend for lunch. It is a matter of settled law that women in this country have a legal right to terminate a pregnancy. CARTS is a business, not a religious organization and the job of a driver is strictly secular. Graning certainly has the right to his religious beliefs and refusing to transport a passenger to receive an abortion is a principled stand to take, even if I disagree with the principle. But actions, no matter how principled, have consequences. In this case the entirely foreseeable consequence was termination from his job.
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