Trump's week in review: Pentagon wants $200B for Iran war; fraud task force launched
3. HHS investigates 13 states for abortion coverage coercion
In a statement published Thursday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights announced it had launched an investigation into 13 states for allegedly forcing healthcare entities to provide coverage of or pay for abortion in violation of their deeply held beliefs.
The department alleged that these states violated the Weldon Amendment, which restricts federal funds from states that subject “any institutional or individual health care entity to discrimination on the basis that the health care entity does not provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions.”
While the department did not explicitly identify which states were under investigation, the Kaiser Family Foundation lists 13 states that require abortion coverage in Medicaid insurance plans, private insurance plans and Affordable Care Act insurance plans: California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.
“OCR launches these investigations to address certain states’ alleged disregard of, or confusion about, compliance with the Weldon Amendment,” said Director of the HHS Office for Civil Rights Paula Stannard. “Under the Weldon Amendment, health care entities, such as health insurance issuers and health plans, are protected from state discrimination for not paying for, or providing coverage of, abortion contrary to conscience. Period.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
