Court rebuffs California's attempt to stop church's suit over abortion mandate

NOTE: Related update here (2016-06-21).

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Jeremiah Galus regarding a federal court’s decision Monday in Skyline Wesleyan Church v. California Department of Managed Health Care to deny the department’s request to throw out the church’s lawsuit, which challenges the agency’s mandate that forces churches to pay for elective abortions in their health insurance plans:

“Californians shouldn’t be forced to choose between following their deepest convictions and submitting to unlawful, unjust government mandates. The California mandate leaves churches with no legal way at all to opt out of paying for abortions. The Department of Managed Health Care unconstitutionally forced abortion coverage into churches’ health insurance plans without their knowledge or approval, and the agency didn’t even follow the appropriate administrative procedures to institute this mandate. The court was right to deny the state’s attempt to escape accountability for its actions.”