HHS Says NO to California Abortion Mandate

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HHS Says NO to California Abortion Mandate

NEWS PROVIDED BY
Life Legal Defense Foundation
Dec. 16, 2020

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 2020 /Standard Newswire/ -- The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today that it will withhold $200 million in federal funds from California because the state refuses to comply with federal laws prohibiting discrimination against health care funding sources that decline to pay for abortion. California requires all insurance policies to include coverage for abortion on demand without any restrictions, on the premise that all abortions are "medically necessary." This extremist mandate violates conscience protections for companies and organizations that provide health insurance coverage. Such protections have been included in the federal appropriations bill every year since 2005.

HHS also announced that it will continue to strip California of $200 million in federal funding per quarter until it complies with the law.

Since the California abortion mandate was created in 2014, Life Legal has worked with churches and individuals trying to recover their right not to pay for abortion with their insurance premiums.

Abortion is the killing of an innocent human being and federal law prohibits states from forcing entities to be complicit in this reprehensible practice.

"This action by HHS tells California that it is not exempt from federal law, particularly when it takes federal money," said Life Legal's Chief Legal Officer Catherine Short. "The state should not be playing political games with health care law."

About Life Legal Defense Foundation
Life Legal Defense Foundation was established in 1989, and is a nonprofit organization composed of attorneys and other concerned citizens committed to giving helpless and innocent human beings of any age, and their advocates, a trained and committed voice in the courtrooms of our nation. For more information about the Life Legal Defense Foundation, visit www.lldf.org.

SOURCE Life Legal Defense Foundation

CONTACT: Alexandra Snyder, 202-717-7371