VICTORY — California to Pay Four Churches $1.4 Million For Violating Free Exercise of Religion Over Abortion Coverage in Health Care Plans

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) represents four churches that sought religious accommodations to the California Managed Health Plan mandate that employers offer employees coverage for elective abortions in health plans.

The churches contended that the mandate violated the Free Exercise Clause. Recent federal court rulings have resolved the lawsuits.

The first lawsuit involved Foothill Church in Glendora, Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in Chino, and The Shepherd of the Hills Church in Porter Ranch, and the second involved Skyline Wesleyan Church in La Mesa.

The state refused to give the three churches requested religious accommodations and revoked Skyline’s religious accommodation. Jack Hibbs, pastor of Calvary Chapel, said he’d go to jail rather than offer coverage to kill the unborn.

Appeals courts ruled that the mandate violated the churches’ religious freedom. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit even contended that Skyline “suffered an injury in fact” when the state revoked its religious accommodation.

ADF announced on Friday that the state has agreed to pay the churches $1.4 million toward attorneys’ fees.

ADF discovered that Planned Parenthood lobbied the California Department of Managed Health Care — a state agency — to essentially deny religious accommodations for religious organizations.

“For years, California officials, in collaboration with Planned Parenthood, have unconstitutionally targeted faith-based organizations,” ADF Senior Counsel Jeremiah Galus said. “This is a significant victory for the churches we represent, the conscience rights of their members, and other religious organizations that shouldn’t be ordered by the government to violate some of their deepest faith convictions.”

By Photographeroflife – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

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