Based on information that the states are allegedly coercing healthcare entities to provide coverage of, or pay for, abortion contrary to conscience, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) are investigating whether California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington violated the Weldon Amendment, which says federal, state, and local governments that receive certain federal health funds cannot discriminate against health care entities that refuse to provide, pay for, or refer for abortions.
Matt Sharp, an attorney for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which is representing churches and pro-life organizations in related cases, recently told the Washington Watch program, "It's a great win to see the federal government taking conscience rights seriously."
One of ADF's cases involves Cedar Park Church in Washington state, where a law, SB 6219, forces churches to cover elective abortions in their health insurance plans.
As a result of the state's mandate, Cedar Park Church's insurance carrier inserted abortion coverage, including surgical abortion coverage, directly into the church's health plan.
Another case in Michigan involves a pro-life organization that is likewise being told by the state that they have to cover abortions in their healthcare services.
"It's just ridiculous that a pro-life organization that exists to provide alternatives to abortion, to save lives, is then having to turn around and in their healthcare coverage pay for the very things that are contrary to their mission," said Sharp.
"So, to see the Trump administration take this issue seriously and start putting these 13 states on notice, that's a big win for the life movement, it's a big win for conscience," he continued.
At the end of the day, he thinks everyone should agree that no one should ever be forced to pay for abortions if they have deeply held religious and moral objections to abortion.
That, he says, is why Congress passed the Weldon Amendment and others like it.
