NY top court rejects church challenge to abortion coverage law
Source: US News and World Report/Reuters
May 21, 2024, at 3:26 p.m.
Reuters) - New York's highest court on Tuesday ruled that employers' health insurance plans have to cover medically necessary abortions, rejecting a lawsuit by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany claiming that the law's exemption for religious employers was too narrow.
The New York Court of Appeals found that the rule, passed in 2017 by the state's Department of Financial Services (DFS), did not violate religious employers' freedom because both the rule and its religious exemption were neutral and generally applicable to all employers.
The 2017 rule was made into law by the state legislature in 2022, though the law was not challenged in the lawsuit.
"We continue to believe that the regulatory action by the state, as well as subsequent legislative action, requiring religious organizations to provide and pay for coverage of abortion in its employee health plans is unconstitutional and unjust," Dennis Poust, executive director of the New York State Catholic Conference, said in a statement. He said the Diocese would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2024-05-21/ny-top-court-rejects-church-challenge-to-abortion-coverage-law
= new reply since forum marked as read
Last edited Tue May 21, 2024, 09:47 PM - Edit history (1)
Just sayin. It's a political instrument as it has always been. 
