Congress will soon vote on the harmful Equality Act (HR 5). Perhaps as soon as today. H.R. 5 contains language that could be construed to create a right to demand abortion from health care providers, and likely would place at risk the authority of state and federal government to prohibit taxpayer-funded abortions.
Section 9 of the Equality Act would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by defining “sex” to include “pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition.” It is well established that abortion will be regarded as a “related medical condition.” See 29 C.F.R. pt. 1604 App. (1986) and Doe v. CARS Protection Plus, Inc., 527 F.3d 358 (3d Cir. 2008).
H.R. 5 goes on to expand this anti-discrimination provision by stating that “pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition shall not receive less favorable treatment than other physical conditions,” and would add “establishments that provide health care” to the list of covered “public accommodations.”
What these provisions will mean, taken together, is that health care establishments and individuals providing healthcare will be required to provide abortion as a “treatment” for pregnancy.
Please contact your U.S. Congressman and ask that they vote no on the unbalanced and unfair Equality Act. They need to hear from you. And please pass this on to others so that they can help too. This is a national issue, so we need concerned citizens in every state to contact their U.S. Representative. The bill as written may be construed to create a right to demand abortion from health care providers and to destroy conscience protections for health care providers.
To find your U.S. Representative:
https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
For more on the Equality Act (HR 5):
https://ifrl-blog.blogspot.com/2019/05/nrlc-expresses-opposition-to-equality.html
