9th Circuit Court of Appeals, San Francisco.
SAN FRANCISCO (BP) — A decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals places a Washington church in position to potentially provide health care coverage for abortion, say attorneys.
A three-judge panel ruled 2-1 that Cedar Park Assembly of God in Kirkland, Wash., did not have standing to challenge the Parity Act of 2018, which requires the addition of abortion coverage alongside that of maternity care.
Kristen Waggoner of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) called the decision “shocking.”
“The 9th Circuit is way out on a limb here,” she said in a post on X. “Every other court to consider a similar case in the past—from district courts to the U.S. Supreme Court and even the 9th Circuit itself (as the dissenting judge noted)—has granted standing.
“… Churches should never be forced to fund abortion. And they should always have the option to challenge such unjust laws in court.”
Cedar Park initially challenged with a lawsuit filed by the ADF in March 2019. That federal district court dismissed the case. However, in July 2021 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit overruled the lower court. The circuit court then heard the case and ruled against Cedar Park.
ADF attorneys appealed that decision back to the 9th Circuit, which said in its March 6 ruling that Cedar Park did not adequately establish causation for injury after summary judgement.
The Parity Act requires all employer health plans in the state that include maternity coverage to also provide “substantially equivalent coverage to permit the abortion of a pregnancy.” The mandate to provide maternity coverage, like in the plan used by Cedar Park, came about from the Affordable Care Act’s requirements that affect those using a group plan and with more than 50 employees.
The state’s conscientious-objection statute protects individuals and organizations who object to being part of such plans. However, the statute also provides employees the opportunity to pursue abortion coverage through the plan even if the company, or church in this case, isn’t directly paying for it.
Cedar Park argued that this could make them complicit, even if indirectly, in abortion coverage. The court disagreed.
“The government must not compel churches to act in violation of their deeply held beliefs,” said Miles Mullin, vice president and chief of staff for the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). “Unfortunately, that is just what has happened in Washington state.”
Through its various ministries, including a school, professional counseling program and funeral home, Cedar Park has more than 180 employees eligible for health insurance coverage.
“As a result of legislative action, Cedar Park Assembly of God was forced to choose between a health care plan that provided coverage for abortion — in violation of their religious convictions — and one they felt provided lesser quality coverage for their employees,” Mullin said. “Courts should make sure that aggressive conscience protections are in place so that no church or religious organization is ever faced with that choice.
“This ruling from the 9th Circuit goes against the grain of the current trajectory in such cases, particularly at the Supreme Court level, where First Amendment conscience protections have been firmly established, and we are hopeful that it will be overturned on appeal.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE — Scott Barkley is chief national correspondent for Baptist Press.)
