Appeals court: Washington church must include abortion in insurance coverage

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against a church in Washington state, which had challenged a state mandate requiring all employer health care plans to include abortion.

In 2020, the Seattle-based Cedar Park Assembly of God filed a lawsuit challenging a state law requiring all employers, even religious institutions, to pay for their employees to have abortions, if maternity coverage is also included. Cedar Park Assembly of God of Kirkland v. Kreidler challenged the constitutionality of SB 6219, enacted in 2018, pointing out there were no religious exemptions in the law.

“State officials thus deliberately targeted houses of worship for mandatory abortion coverage and, in so doing, intentionally violated their religious beliefs about the sanctity of human life,” a brief filed by the church in the lawsuit said.

“We’re standing for the rights of people of faith to not be forced into being complicit with something inconsistent with our faith,” said senior pastor Rev. Jay Smith. “Abortion is the antithesis of who we are as an organization, what our beliefs are, and how we live our faith.”

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Initially, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the church’s favor, saying they had standing to sue:

Cedar Park’s complaint plausibly alleged that, due to the enactment of SB 6219, its health insurer (Kaiser Permanente) stopped offering a plan with abortion coverage restrictions and Cedar Park could not procure comparable replacement coverage. This is sufficient to state an injury in fact that is fairly traceable to SB 6219.

In 2023, a lower court judge dismissed the case, which then led the church to appeal, bringing them to the Ninth Circuit Court again, which had previously ruled in their favor.

Unfortunately, this time the court refused to block the law, ruling in favor of Washington state – meaning pro-life churches in Washington will be forced to fund abortion. In a 2-1 decision, the court now says the church does not have proper standing to sue, and that existing conscientious objection statutes are enough to protect the church.

Interestingly, this contradicts a previous court ruling in favor of Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, which sued over a similar abortion mandate in California. That ruling also came from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, making this decision baffling, to say the least.

“The majority’s ruling is shocking,” said Rory Gray, Senior Counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, who represented the Pentecostal church in court. “It bars the courthouse doors to a church who has actually been required to include abortion coverage in its employee health plan for five years in violation of everything it believes. That conclusion is unprecedented and contradicts what the Supreme Court, other circuits, and the Ninth Circuit itself already said.”