Olympia, Washington The Kirkland-based Cedar Park Assembly of God has been battling Washington state in court for over six years over a legislation that mandates access to abortion be covered by employer-sponsored health insurance.
In March, the church lost another round of its fight when a federal appeals panel ruled 2-1 in favor of the state, upholding a prior court judgment.
However, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals took the extraordinary step of overturning that decision on Tuesday, adding a fresh twist.
The withdrawal follows a rehearing en banc, in which the Cedar Park Assembly of God requested that the whole appellate court reexamine the March ruling. The churchin court filings were supported by 18 states with Republican governors.
The three-judge appeals court panel gave no justification for rescinding the March ruling in its brief written ruling. The judges stated in their letter that they would postpone oral arguments and provide a new opinion later.
Presidents Joe Biden, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton all appointed the judges.
When an appeal court vacates a decision and orders re-argument in response to a petition for rehearing en banc, it is often because two or more panel members now consider that the previous decision included errors, according to a statement made by one of the church’s attorneys.
According to John Bursch, senior counsel at the Alliance Defending Freedom, the State of Washington cannot compel Cedar Park to compromise its commitment to offering its employees high-quality healthcare. We look forward to reiterating that Washington State cannot force churches to acquire abortion-covering health plans, so compelling them to violate their strongly held values.
The case relates to a 2018 state law that requires employer insurance plans that include maternity care to also cover contraception and abortion. The Reproductive Parity Act was passed by Democratic lawmakers in response to religious organizations’ fears that it would infringe upon their constitutional rights.
Early in 2019, Cedar Park Assembly of God filed a lawsuit against the Act, pointing it that a 1995 state law exempts religion-sponsored health carriers from paying for or providing a particular service if they oppose for religious or moral reasons.
Since then, the case has continued to go through the legal system.
The state explained that although their plan did not have to cover abortion services, employees might obtain coverage for such procedures through their employer’s insurance provider under the new law. In accordance with that rule, the insurance commissioner of Washington authorized certain group health plans that did not provide abortion coverage, provided that the insurers did.
The appeals court’s now-retracted majority ruling said that insurers could provide businesses with no-abortion health plans both before and after the Parity Act was passed.
It further stated that the plaintiff’s requested remedy, the invalidation of the Parity Act, could not and would not compel any insurer to provide the plaintiff with a no-abortion plan.
An attorney for the church at the time termed the majority decision “shocking” and said he would push the issue all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Although there is no way to know for sure why the appeals judges withdrew their ruling beyond what is mentioned in the order, a state attorney general’s office representative said on Wednesday that it might be in reaction to the church’s request for a new hearing.
According to spokeswoman Mike Faulk, the Ninth Circuit panel that rendered the decision will occasionally rescind its initial ruling in order to address a point brought up in the petition for review. Maybe that’s what’s going on here.
“We continue to believe that Washington’s health insurance laws are constitutional and that the plaintiff lacks standing to bring this case,” Faulk continued.
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