The Weldon amendment, which protects the rights of health-care officials to avoid involvement in abortion, applies “only to health care entities and not to individuals who are patients of, or institutions or individuals that are insured by, such entities,” stated the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Catholic colleges in California had invoked the Weldon Amendment to justify excluding aboriton coverage from their employees' health-care plans. That policy was challenged by faculty members at two Catholic universities: Loyola Marymount and Santa Clara University. Under the new HHS ruling, all religious institutions would appear to be legally required to offer abortion coverage.
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