From NJ.com:
A Catholic school teacher in South Jersey has been placed on administrative leave after disclosing she is carrying a baby for a couple as their gestational surrogate.
Jadira Bonilla, 35, said she was accused by school administrators on Sept. 12 of violating her employment contract at St. Mary School in Vineland. Since then, she has been on paid leave.
Steven Hogan, the school’s principal, said in a statement that Bonilla was a “valued” teacher, but the Catholic church’s stance on surrogacy “guides our educational principles.”
This isn’t the first time a New Jersey Catholic school teacher has been removed from the classroom following a pregnancy disclosure. In 2023, the state Supreme Court ruled that a religious entity is not required to abide by the state’s discrimination laws when following the tenets of its faith.
The state Supreme Court ruling ended a 10-year legal battle fought by a woman who lost her job at a Kenilworth Catholic school after disclosing she was unmarried and pregnant.
The Catholic Church has historically opposed surrogacy, along with in vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments. Last year, Pope Francis called for a universal ban on surrogacy, describing it as “despicable” practice.
Bonilla, a kindergarten teacher who’s been with the school for three and a half years, said despite the church’s opposition, neither surrogacy nor in vitro fertilization are mentioned in her contract or employee handbook.
“If they’re going to penalize me, then they’re going to have to penalize every female employee that has done IVF to conceive their own children, because it’s the same thing. They go hand in hand,” Bonilla said.
