Going gynecological

Catholic schools just can't help themselves: After a New York-area school fired one unmarried teacher for getting pregnant while on the job, and a New Jersey school another for fathering a child out of wedlock, the Appleton Catholic school district has now fired a woman for getting fertility treatments. Kelly Romenesko, who taught middle-school French at two Catholic schools, evidently told a principal that she would be absent to complete an in vitro procedure. After she became pregnant with twins, the district fired her, presumably for using a procedure condemned by the church. One wonders why they didn't warn her beforehand.

Note to self: Don't tell employer--Catholic or otherwise--anything about personal medical procedures.

Still, how far is this going to go? What if a school somehow finds out a married teacher is using birth control pills? That the phys-ed teacher had a vasectomy? That the religion teacher is gay?

Even employees of Catholic institutions have some right to and presumption of privacy. Maybe Ms. Romenesko's mistake was telling the principal what exact procedure she was having, but in her defense, she may have felt obligated to give a complete explanation of her absence. Still, I imagine if every secret of this nature came to light, Catholic institutions would have to fire all their employees, right up to the bishop!