Churches Celebrate Ruling Stopping California From Forcing Them to Fund Abortions

State   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Jun 2, 2023   |   12:27PM   |   Sacramento, California

California churches rejoiced this spring after winning an eight-year legal battle against a state mandate that forced them to pay for killing unborn babies in abortions.

In February and then again in May, two federal courts ruled in favor of the churches’ lawsuits. As a result, they do not have to comply with a California Department of Managed Health Care policy that mandated churches and other religious organizations cover elective abortions in their employee health insurance plans.

For Senior Pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, the victory also had personal significance. As an unborn child, Hibbs survived an abortion attempt on his life, according to his church’s magazine.

“There is a remarkable, haunting verse found in Micah 6:7, which says, ‘Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?’ Don’t sacrifice your own child. Let your child live, and watch what God will do,” he said in a sermon on Sanctity of Life Sunday in January.

Hibbs’ church was one of four involved in challenging the pro-abortion mandate, represented by Alliance Defending Freedom. In May, ADF announced that two separate courts ruled that the mandate violated the First Amendment and ordered the state to pay $1.4 million to cover the churches’ legal costs.

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“The government can’t force a church or any other religious employer to violate their faith and conscience by participating in funding abortion,” ADF senior counsel Jeremiah Galus said in a statement. “For years, California officials, in collaboration with Planned Parenthood, have unconstitutionally targeted faith-based organizations. This is a significant victory for the churches we represent, the conscience rights of their members, and other religious organizations that shouldn’t be ordered by the government to violate some of their deepest faith convictions.”

The other churches involved in the lawsuits were Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, Foothill Church in Glendora and The Shepherd of the Hills Church in Porter Ranch.

Hibbs at Calvary Chapel said their church does not just oppose abortion; it also offers life-affirming support to help to pregnant mothers and fathers choose life for their babies. Because of his own family history, he said he understands the fear that often drives women to consider abortion.

“God says, choose life and live. If you find yourself pregnant, let us know. We’ll keep it quiet; we’ll find a family, we’ll take care of it—and we’ll take care of you. We will not be a church that says, ‘Don’t do that,’ and then not supply the needs by which you can obey,” he told his congregation in January.

For pregnant mothers who cannot parent for whatever reason, Hibbs urged them to consider adoption, reminding them that God will bless them if they choose life.

“In my family, we have biological and adopted grandchildren, and we love them all the same because we are one family,” he said. “Someone out there wants your child, even if you don’t or are unable to provide for him/her. Choose life, and see the blessings that await you in return.”