The state of Washington is trying to force Christian churches to fund abortions. Under a Washington law, all health insurance plans must pay for abortions. Cedar Park Assembly of God is a pro-life, Christian church and opposes abortions. Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit recently pushing back against Washington State for this very clear violation of religious freedom.
In a press release, ADF noted, “No church should be coerced to pay for abortions, least of all a church that dedicates its ministry to protecting and celebrating life,” said ADF Legal Counsel Elissa Graves. “Cedar Park believes and teaches that every human life begins at conception and is worthy of protection at every point until natural death. Further still, Cedar Park demonstrates its pro-life ethic in tangible ways: partnership with a local pregnancy care center, hosting an annual camp for children in foster care, operating a school that serves over 1,000 students, and ministering to hundreds of couples struggling with infertility. The state of Washington has no business strong-arming this church, or any other, into contradicting the deeply held beliefs that motivate its ministry.”
The lawsuit notes, “Washington’s attack on people of faith is intentional. It represents the kind of deliberate religious persecution that our country was founded to prevent.”
Cedar Park also lives out its pro-life beliefs through its acts. According to the lawsuit, “Cedar Park partners with a local pregnancy center, and has hosted a mobile ultrasound unit at Cedar Park’s campus. This unit is used to perform ultrasounds on expectant mothers who may be considering abortion so that they will learn the truth about the human life growing inside them and choose to preserve it” and “Cedar Park staff and members attend the annual March for Life in Olympia, Washington annually, to promote the organization’s pro-life views.”
The legislation in question was signed by Washington Governor Jay Inslee, who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit. Inslee recently declared his intention to run for President in 2020. According to PBS, “On abortion rights, Inslee believes in a woman’s right to choose and opposed the Trump administration’s announcement that it would prohibit taxpayer-funded family planning clinics from referring women for abortions”
Alliance Defending Freedom has been a long-time ally of Students for Life of America, often defending us in free-speech battles with universities.
