SAN FRANCISCO — A federal court Tuesday rejected California’s challenge to the “Weldon Amendment.” The federal statute forbids state and local governments that receive federal funds from discriminating against healthcare providers that refuse to perform or refer patients for abortions. The court sided with three groups of pro-life medical professionals and others, including the federal government, in rejecting California’s challenge.
“Pro-life medical professionals shouldn’t be discriminated against for abiding by their beliefs,” said Litigation Counsel M. Casey Mattox of CLS’s Center for Law & Religious Freedom. “This ruling means that California will remain prohibited from fining and criminally prosecuting pro-life doctors because they refuse to perform abortions. The Weldon Amendment remains a critical protection for the rights of conscience of pro-life healthcare workers.”
Bill Lockyer, the former attorney general of California, filed suit against the U.S. government in 2005, claiming the amendment is unconstitutional because it interferes with California’s enforcement of a state law. That law provides for criminal and civil penalties against healthcare workers if they do not perform or refer for abortions in some circumstances.
Attorneys with CLS and ADF represented members of the Christian Medical Association, the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Fellowship of Christian Physician Assistants (
www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=3777).
The decision from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in
State of California v. United States of America is available at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/USopinion.pdf.
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth. The CLS Center for Law & Religious Freedom is a team of Christian attorneys allied with ADF to defend religious liberty and human life.
www.telladf.org www.clsnet.org