Complaint Filed With HHS Over California Requirement That Insurance Policies Cover Elective Abortions

Last week, seven employees of the religiously-affiliated Loyola Marymount University filed a complaint (full text) with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services objecting to a decision by the California Department of Managed Health Care requiring all private health care plans in the state to cover elective abortions. The complaint contends that the state's decision depriving them of a plan that omits elective abortion coverage violates the Hyde-Weldon Conscience Protection Amendment (Sec. 507 of the 2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act). That provision prohibits states from discriminating against a health care entity because it does not provide abortion coverage. A press release announced the filing of the complaint by Life Legal Defense Foundation and Alliance Defending Freedom.