SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A circuit judge in Springfield has ruled against the Illinois Baptist State Association (IBSA) in a suit to protect IBSA from requirements to provide employees with insurance benefits that cover abortion. The ruling, saying the Illinois Reproductive Health Act did not violate IBSA’s religious freedom, came more than four years after IBSA filed suit.
“The September 4 ruling discounts the beliefs of over 150,000 Illinois Baptists, as well as all Illinoisans who hold these same sacred convictions, by requiring all insurance coverage in our state to pay for abortion on demand, without a clear pathway for religious exemptions for churches or faith-based ministries,” said IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams.
“We stand by our position that the Reproductive Health Act is inconsistent with the Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act,” Adams said. “We are reviewing the ruling with our attorneys and expect to appeal the decision.”
In September 2019, the IBSA board of directors authorized the association to engage in litigation in partnership with the Thomas More Society seeking relief for IBSA entities and member churches from the Reproductive Health Act. The Thomas More Society and a local attorney from an IBSA-affiliated church are providing all legal services without cost to IBSA.
The act, passed by the state assembly that spring, required all employers in the state to provide abortion coverage as part of their employee insurance plans regulated by the Illinois Department of Insurance (IDOI). IBSA filed suit based on its religious beliefs in June 2020. The state attorney general’s office countered by filing a motion of summary judgment on behalf of the IDOI.
On Sept. 4, Sangamon County Seventh Circuit Judge Christopher G. Perrin ruled IBSA did not prove the act “imposes a substantial burden on their religious beliefs. Given the availability of alternative insurance options that exclude abortion coverage, the Association’s argument under (the religious freedoms act) lacks the necessary proof of coercion or compulsion required to sustain their claim.”
In the ruling, Perrin claimed federally managed insurance plans and plans issued by out-of-state insurers could be obtained, neither of which are regulated by the IDOI. His ruling granted summary judgment for the state.
“Illinois Baptist cooperating churches have consistently expressed their conviction that abortion is in opposition to their sincerely held religious beliefs,” Adams said. “We are deeply disappointed in the ruling.”
Even within the last few weeks, Illinois lawmakers have attempted to further enshrine abortion rights into state laws. Gov. J.B. Pritzker has recently signed one bill requiring insurance companies to provide full coverage for abortions and another making abortions a protected human rights issue.
(EDITOR’S NOTE — This article originally appeared in the Illinois Baptist.)
