California Church Can Sue the State over Abortion Mandate, 9th Circuit Rules

Several years ago, California began requiring churches and other religious organizations to pay for abortions in their employee health care plans, an act that prompted religious freedom lawsuits and has even involved an agency of the federal government. One church that has been battling that mandate in the federal courts for years just received support from an unlikely place – the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, headquartered in San Francisco, which just reversed a trial judge’s dismissal of the church’s lawsuit and sent the case back down for a trial.
Skyline Wesleyan Church (Skyline) in San Diego has been serving its community since 1954. It offers its employees a generous benefits package. It also believes that every human life is sacred from the moment of conception to natural death, so it has always purchased health plans for its employees that excluded coverage for elective abortion.
When the California Department of Managed Health Care in 2014 rescinded existing religious exemptions for entities like Skyline, it put the church in an untenable position of choosing between paying for abortion or cease providing a health plan altogether.
The church, represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, filed a lawsuit in the federal courts in California and also asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to get involved, because federal law prohibits states that receive federal funds from requiring employers to pay for abortions in their health care plans.
On January 24, 2020, HHS issued a “notice of violation” letter to California informing officials there that its abortion mandate violated the Weldon Amendment and gave the state 30 days to respond. No resolution has been reached in that action.
Skyline’s lawsuit, which began in a federal district court in southern California in 2016, was dismissed by that court in 2018. The church appealed and argued its case to the 9th Circuit last November, which this week ruled that the lower court had improperly dismissed the church’s case. That means Skyline can now have its day in court, where its claims that California has violated both federal and state law will now receive a full and fair hearing.
No church should be forced by the government to compromise its deeply held beliefs in order to provide benefits for its employees. Pray for the success of Skyline’s ongoing effort to vindicate the religious freedom not only for itself, but for all the churches and religious organizations in California.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bruce Hausknecht, J.D., is an attorney who serves as Focus on the Family’s judicial analyst. He is responsible for research and analysis of legal and judicial issues related to Christians and the institution of the family, including First Amendment freedom of religion and free speech issues, judicial activism, marriage, homosexuality and pro-life matters. He also tracks legislation and laws affecting these issues. Prior to joining Focus in 2004, Hausknecht practiced law for 17 years in construction litigation and as an associate general counsel for a large ministry in Virginia. He was also an associate pastor at a church in Colorado Springs for seven years, primarily in worship music ministry. Hausknecht has provided legal analysis and commentary for top media outlets including CNN, ABC News, NBC News, CBS Radio, The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe and BBC radio. He’s also a regular contributor to The Daily Citizen. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Illinois and his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law. Hausknecht has been married since 1981 and has three adult children, as well as three adorable grandkids. In his free time, Hausknecht loves getting creative with his camera and capturing stunning photographs of his adopted state of Colorado.
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