Church Fights Democrat Law Forcing It to Fund Abortions
Eighteen states and multiple religious freedom advocates filed friend-of-the-court briefs Monday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in support of Seattle-area Cedar Park Assembly of God. The church, represented by Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys, is asking the full court to review a decision by a split three-judge panel in Cedar Park Assembly of God v. Kreidler that forces the church to violate its constitutionally protected, pro-life religious beliefs and instead follow the state’s requirement that most Washington employers provide abortion coverage for employees.
“It’s unconscionable for the government to force any church to pay for abortions,” said ADF Senior Counsel Rory Gray. “The U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed that the government can’t compel religious organizations to act in violation of their sincerely held faith convictions. Cedar Park, which celebrates and protects life from conception to natural death, has fought to practice what it preaches long enough, and we welcome the support of these states and religious freedom advocates.”
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Washington state Senate Bill 6219 was signed into law in March 2018 and requires Cedar Park to provide coverage for abortion if the church also offers maternity care coverage to its employees. Violators face fines and criminal penalties, including imprisonment. The district court first dismissed the case, which the 9th Circuit later reversed. The district court then said that being forced to include abortion in its health plan didn’t violate the church’s free-exercise rights, prompting ADF attorneys to appeal to the 9th Circuit again in November 2023, leading to the ruling that attorneys asked the full court to review.
Cedar Park had an abortion-free health plan. After SB 6219 went into effect, however, Cedar Park’s insurance carrier added surgical abortion and abortifacient contraceptive coverage to the church’s health plan to comply with Washington law. But Cedar Park’s insurer indicated that it would remove abortion coverage mid-year if churches obtained an exemption from the state’s abortion-coverage mandate. That exemption is what Cedar Park has been seeking in court for more than five years.
“Cedar Park appealed to [the 9th Circuit] for review, but the panel’s opinion didn’t consider Cedar Park’s religious autonomy argument at all,” says the multi-state brief led by South Carolina. “In fact, the only place where the phrase ‘religious autonomy’ appears anywhere in the opinion is one instance in the opening paragraph where the Court summarized the claims originally raised by the plaintiff in this case. As a result, the religious autonomy doctrine has taken a back seat in the Ninth Circuit.”
“SB 6219 forces Cedar Park to make a choice,” adds a brief filed by Christian Legal Society and The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. “It must take an action that would violate the tenets of its faith: purchasing a health plan that all agree triggers coverage for abortion services. Or it could stop providing health insurance for its employees, a decision that would also contradict its beliefs and would expose it to hefty penalties. The panel nonetheless cast Cedar Park as a mere bystander raising only ‘general disapproval of the actions that others might decide to take.’ That was gross error and puts [the 9th Circuit] in conflict with the Supreme Court.”
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