On Friday the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services finally announced that it found California violated the federal conscience protection laws. This is the first time since the launch of the new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division one year ago that OCR has found a violation under these laws.
Several pregnancy resource clinics in California complained that the state of California had fined them for refusing to refer others to, and advertise, abortion clinics. In 2015, California adopted the Reproductive Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care, and Transparency Act, which required pregnancy resource centers to essentially advertise nearby abortion clinics. However, two amendments (the Weldon and Coats-Snowe amendments) prohibit state and local governments that receive certain federal funds from subjecting healthcare entities to discrimination.
If this sounds at all familiar, it’s because the Supreme Court already addressed this in its infamous case this last summer, National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra and ruled the FACT Act violated the First Amendment free speech rights of pregnancy resource centers. In one of Justice Anthony Kennedy’s finer concurring opinions, he stated that “viewpoint discrimination is inherent in the design and structure of [the] Act” and is a “matter of serious constitutional concern.”
The fact that OCR’s Conscience and Religious Freedom Division has made this call is good news. It shows that HHS finally has some teeth when it comes to the issues of free speech and religious liberty — especially as they often intertwine. However, one wonders what took so long, and I hope in the future they can announce such discoveries perhaps well before or just as another branch of government is reviewing it. That said, OCR did conduct an independent investigation which shows sound thinking — especially in the event that the Supreme Court makes a faulty ruling, which is possible. Due to the SCOTUS ruling, California couldn’t enforce the FACT Act anyway.
In a statement, Roger Severino, director of OCR, stated, “We are pleased that the Supreme Court blocked California’s blatant discrimination against non-profits that give life-affirming options to women facing unplanned pregnancies. Our violation finding underscores not only that California must follow the Constitution, but that it also must respect federal conscience protection laws when it accepts federal funds.”
The SCOTUS ruling ensured the discrimination couldn’t continue and OCR issued their violation. Hopefully pregnancy centers in California won’t be forced to advertise for something as heinous as abortions, in violation of their conscience and First Amendment rights ever again.
Nicole Russell (@russell_nm) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.
