by Richard Schulman
California has been given 30 days to cease requiring insurers to include abortion coverage in health policies issued in the state. The order was issued Friday by the Health and Human Services Department’s Office of Civil Rights. If California doesn’t comply, the HHS is threatening to cut off the $51 bn. in federal funds the state receives for Medicaid because the mandate violates federal law. The HHS order was issued on the basis of the Weldon amendment, which denies federal funds to states and localities that punish health care entities for refusing to cover abortions. But California’s abortion coverage mandate is unconstitutional as well.
Court fight expected
The expected opposition to the federal order in local courts will provide the basis for HHS to take local cases to the Supreme Court. The First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” The California mandate is being used to compel Catholic charitable organizations to fund abortion coverage for their employees in violation of strongly and long-held religious beliefs.
“California’s rule — issued in 2014 by the state’s managed care department — was challenged by two religious groups: Skyline Wesleyan Church, a large evangelical congregation in La Mesa, Calif., and the Missionary Guadalupana of the Holy Spirit, a Los Angeles order of Catholic nuns,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “A lawsuit by the Catholic order was dismissed by a California court.”
Abortion mandates a “blue” state specialty
Five other states (New York, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, and Maine) and New York City have abortion coverage mandates similar to California’s and will likely face similar HHS orders. All the jurisdictions in question are Democratic Party dominated.
Also on Friday, President Trump gave a strong pro-life speech at the 47th annual March for Life held on the Washington, DC mall:
All of us here today understand an eternal truth: Every child is a precious and sacred gift from God. Together, we must protect, cherish, and defend the dignity and sanctity of every human life…. Sadly, the far-left is actively working to erase our God-given rights, shut down faith-based charities, ban religious believers from the public square, and silence Americans who believe in the sanctity of life. They are coming after me because I am fighting for you and we are fighting for those who have no voice.
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