ACLU Questions Restrictive Covenants In Deed From Church To Town

According to Sunday's Boston Globe, the Wellesley (MA) Board of Selectmen has signed an agreement to purchase a Catholic Church site for the town in a contract that has drawn the attention of the Massachusetts ACLU. The town plans to use the land for a recreation center if the purchase is approved by a Town Meeting.  At issue, though, are religiously motivated restrictions that will be included in the deed that will prevent the town, for 90 years, from using the property as an embryonic stem cell research facility; as a facility where abortions, assisted suicide, or euthanasia would occur; as a professional counseling facility where abortion, assisted suicide, or euthanasia are advocated. Restrictions will also prevent the land from being used for a house of religious worship or for a school other than a public elementary, middle or high school. The archdiocese says these are all standard restrictions it includes in all property sales. An ACLU attorney says, however, that it is concerned that the arrangement allows a religious entity to control what the public can do in the future with property based on religious concerns.