Final rules that the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury, and Labor issued Wednesday guarantee protections from the abortion-pill mandate for organizations with pro-life religious or moral convictions.
According to Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys, that mandate had forced many employers, regardless of those beliefs, to provide abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception under threat of heavy penalties by the Internal Revenue Service and other federal agencies if the mandate’s requirements weren’t met.
“The beliefs that inspire Christian colleges and universities, as well as groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor, to serve their communities should be protected,” stated Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Gregory S. Baylor. “Through these regulations, President Trump kept his promise that people of faith wouldn’t be bullied on his watch. At the same time, contraceptives will remain readily available to those who wish to use them. Additionally, we commend the administration for protecting organizations like March for Life, an organization that bases its pro-life beliefs on science and philosophy, and hosts the largest pro-life gathering in the world every year in Washington, D.C. These final rules affirm the principle that all Americans should be free to peacefully live and work according to their faith and conscience without threat of government punishment.”