California's Illegal Discrimination Against Pro-Lifers From the Daily Signal posted by Bongino Reports: Imagine being exposed to bigotry simply because of your deeply held morals. Now imagine that the discrimination you’re experiencing is coming from your own state’s government. Sadly, that’s a reality for countless Californians who are being forced by the state to support abortion—regardless of their beliefs—by mandated abortion coverage in health insurance plans. On Aug. 22, 2014, the California Department for Managed Health Care issued a directive mandating that all health plans under the agency’s jurisdiction immediately include coverage for abortions. In addition to grossly devaluing human life, this abortion mandate is so radical and far-reaching that millions of people—among them, nuns and pastors and pro-life advocates—have no choice but to include abortion in their health insurance plans. That is a textbook case of discrimination at the hands of the state, and Californians are the ones suffering.  California’s abortion mandate isn’t just backward and cruel, it’s also illegal. Federal law—specifically, the Weldon Amendment—prohibits states that receive federal funding from requiring that health care plans fund abortion. Tragically, under the Obama administration, the Department of Health and Human Services routinely neglected to enforce the Weldon Amendment. Since the mandate went into effect in 2014, I have repeatedly demanded answers from HHS on how they reconciled California’s mandate with the Weldon Amendment—a question they either could not or would not answer. Fortunately, under President Donald Trump, the government is once again respecting religious liberty. Shortly into his presidency, the Conscience and Religious Liberty Division within the HHS Office for Civil Rights was opened, forming a specialized team of government officials who would help safeguard our civil rights. That signaled an end to the callous indifference of state discrimination enabled by the Obama administration. https://www.dailysignal.com/2020/02/23/end-californias-illegal-discrimination-against-pro-lifers/