{"id":327498,"date":"2025-03-09T13:38:59","date_gmt":"2025-03-09T18:38:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=327498"},"modified":"2025-03-10T08:31:13","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T13:31:13","slug":"washington-state-church-forced-abortion-coverage-insurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/washington-state-church-forced-abortion-coverage-insurance\/","title":{"rendered":"Appeals court: Washington church must include abortion in insurance coverage"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against a church in Washington state, which had challenged a state mandate requiring all employer health care plans to include abortion.<\/p>\n

In 2020, the Seattle-based Cedar Park Assembly of God filed a lawsuit<\/a> challenging a state law requiring all employers, even religious institutions, to pay for their employees to have abortions, if maternity coverage is also included. Cedar Park Assembly of God of Kirkland v. Kreidler<\/em> challenged the constitutionality of SB 6219<\/a>, enacted in 2018, pointing out there were no religious exemptions in the law.<\/p>\n

“State officials thus deliberately targeted houses of worship for mandatory abortion coverage and, in so doing, intentionally violated their religious beliefs about the sanctity of human life,” a brief filed by the church in the lawsuit said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re standing for the rights of people of faith to not be forced into being complicit with something inconsistent with our faith,\u201d said<\/a> senior pastor Rev. Jay Smith. \u201cAbortion is the antithesis of who we are as an organization, what our beliefs are, and how we live our faith.\u201d<\/p>\n