[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16344]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      CALIFORNIA ABORTION MANDATE

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, we have seen this administration casually 
ignore the law when it comes to immigration, EPA regs, and ObamaCare. 
Now, we are going to see whether they ignore the law when it comes to 
forcing churches in California to pay for abortion.
  For many years now, Congress has included language in the 
appropriations bills that prohibits States from forcing health 
insurance plans to cover elective abortion: the Weldon amendment, named 
for my good friend and former colleague, Dr. Dave Weldon of Florida.
  Now, the State of California has issued a bureaucratic edict that 
every health insurance plan in California regulated by the State must 
pay for the procedure, and this includes even plans purchased by 
churches, religious schools, and charities.
  HHS must not hesitate to protect the right of Americans to prevent 
their health care dollars from going to something they find to be 
profoundly immoral. The agency is required to inform the State of 
California of this violation and remind them that they risk the loss of 
Federal funds.
  There doesn't need to be any delay from HHS. This is exactly why the 
Weldon amendment was created.

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