A federal judge has rejected a church’s argument that a Washington state law forcing faith-based organizations to cover elective abortions in their employee health plans violates the church’s religious freedom rights. In a Tuesday ruling , Judge Benjamin Settle of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington sided with the state by determining that Senate Bill 6219 is “neutral” and that there is no evidence it was enacted to target any particular religion. The ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed by the conservative legal nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom on behalf of Cedar Park Assembly of God in Kirkland. Settle, appointed to the bench by former President George W. Bush, disagreed with the church’s notion that the 2018 law requiring health insurance plans that offer maternity coverage to also “provide substantially equivalent abortion coverage” favored “secular conduct.” He noted that it does not exempt non-religious organizations from the requirement regarding maternity care and abortion coverage while only forcing religious organizations to abide by it. “Because the Court concludes that SB 6219 is neutral and generally applicable, the law is valid if it is rationally related to a legitimate governmental purpose,” the judge wrote. ADF Senior […]
