The federal government is launching an investigation into reported violations of abortion-related conscience protections by more than a dozen states. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Thursday that its Office of Civil Rights (OCR) will probe 13 states — California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington — over alleged violations of the Weldon Amendment, a federal provision which bars state governments from withholding public health care funds from health care providers who refuse to carry out or refer patients for abortions.
In 2021, under then-President Joe Biden, the HHS OCR revised its legal guidance on the Weldon Amendment to exclude employers and health care plan sponsors from the scope of the Weldon Amendment’s protections. President Donald Trump’s administration had previously warned California’s state government in 2020 that it could not mandate abortion coverage in health care plans. The Biden administration promptly rescinded the Trump administration’s order, arguing that “health plan sponsors or employers, including the complainants, do not meet the definition of ‘health care entity’ under the Weldon Amendment…” The HHS OCR rejected that interpretation earlier this year.
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“OCR launches these investigations to address certain states’ alleged disregard of, or confusion about, compliance with the Weldon Amendment,” said Paula M. Stannard, director of the HHS OCR, in a statement. “Under the Weldon Amendment, health care entities, such as health insurance issuers and health plans, are protected from state discrimination for not paying for, or providing coverage of, abortion contrary to conscience. Period.”
In comments to The Washington Stand, Mary Szoch, director of the Center for Human Dignity at Family Research Council, asserted, “Medical professionals should not be forced to violate their consciences in order to practice medicine. Any state asking a medical professional to participate in any action that violates human dignity should be held accountable.” She added, “I’m so grateful that the Trump administration is investigating these states, and I look forward to the day when those in health care no longer need to worry about being forced to take lives or leave the profession.”
Matt Sharp, senior counsel and public policy director at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), explained in a “Washington Watch” appearance Friday that laws like the Weldon Amendment are intended to protect the conscience rights of Americans who recognize abortion as the killing of an innocent, unborn child. “Congress recognized that there was a risk that federal dollars could be used to force doctors to perform abortions, health care providers to pay for them, or even churches and others that want to provide good health care to their employees to cover these things as part of the services and benefits they give to their customers, to their employees,” Sharp detailed. One of the results was the passage of the Weldon Amendment. “But we’ve unfortunately seen lots of states ignore this,” the ADF attorney shared. “We have a case that’s been going on for over six years now in Washington state, where the state is trying to force a church to pay for abortions as part of its health care coverage for its employees.”
The Washington-based church, Sharp reported, is heavily involved in pro-life activity in the area, including financially supporting pro-life initiatives and leading prayer and preaching in defense of the unborn. “Yet here’s the state telling them, ‘Because you want to provide health care for your employees, because you want to make sure you’re covering cancer treatments and other health issues, you also have to pay for abortions as part of it,’” Sharp observed. “That directly conflicts with this church’s pro-life beliefs, with the biblical teachings that they adhere to about the sanctity of life,” he added, pointing out that the Biden administration not only failed to defend the rights of church members and leadership in this case, but actively endorsed the violation of those rights.
“It’s just ridiculous that a pro-life organization that exists to provide alternatives to abortion, to save lives, then has to turn around and end their health care coverage, pay for the very things that are contrary to their mission,” Sharp asserted, noting that the Washington church is not the only ADF client to face pressure of that sort. “So to see the Trump administration take this issue seriously and start putting states on notice. … That’s a big win for the life movement,” Sharp added. “It’s a big win for conscience, because at the end of the day, I think we can all agree no one should ever be forced to pay for abortions if they have deeply held religious and moral objections to abortion. That ought to be something we can all agree on,” he continued. “It is a great win to see the federal government taking conscience rights seriously.”
California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington all have laws or mandates in place requiring that fully-insured health care plans cover abortion costs. Ten of those states — California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington — require no cost-sharing. In other words, employers and health care plan sponsors are required to cover the costs of abortions in full in those states. Illinois and Minnesota allow cost-sharing in some cases, consistent with cost-sharing stipulations for similar components of health plans, while Delaware prohibits cost-sharing for abortions up to $750.
The HHS OCR requested information from the 13 states regarding laws or regulations the state governments have in place mandating coverage of abortion in health care. If it is determined that a state is in violation of the Weldon Amendment’s stipulations, then the federal government may withhold taxpayer funding and refer the state to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for litigation or prosecution.
LifeNews Note: S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.
