California cannot force religious institutions to include elective abortion coverage in their employee healthcare plans, a federal court ruled on Thursday.
Three California churches in April filed a motion challenging a 2014 California mandate requiring religious institutions to cover the procedure. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) represented Foothill Church in Glendora, Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in Chino, and The Shepherd of the Hills Church in Porter Ranch in their challenge to the Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) mandate.
Emails ADF obtained revealed that the DMHC imposed the mandate at the urging of Planned Parenthood, one of the nation’s most prominent abortion providers.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, Sacramento Division, found in favor of the churches, ruling that the mandate violated the First Amendment by forcing religious institutions to act against their convictions.“In sum, the Director has not shown ‘[she] lacks other means of achieving [her] desired goal […]
Excerpt Sourced From: justthenews.com
