Hon. Jerry Brown
Governor, State of California
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814

My constituents and I are deeply troubled by the Department of Managed Health Care's (DMHC) assault on the religious liberties of 38-million Californians.

DMHC's August 22nd decision ordered all insurance plans in the state to immediately begin covering elective abortion procedures. According to DMHC, elective abortions must be covered under a 40-year-old state law requiring health plans to cover "basic health services." This new, unprecedented interpretation of 40-year old language creates a mandate that violates the free exercise rights of churches, businesses, and other non-profit organizations, who are morally opposed to elective abortion.

In forcing churches, businesses, and other non-profit organizations to pay for a health plan that covers elective abortions for their employees, California is knowingly violating the federal law that protects the rights of individuals to freely exercise their deeply held religious beliefs and a11ows them to conscientiously object. This is a fundamental right for all Americans.

The U.S. Supreme Court's guidance on this issue in the context of contraceptives was clear. The fundamental right to freely exercise religious beliefs should not be infringed. Surely, if an organization's religious objection to providing contraceptive coverage, due to their belief that contraceptives are abortifacients, is enough to exempt them from providing contraception coverage, requiring these same organizations to purchase only health plans that provide coverage for elective abortions stands in direct opposition to the Supreme Court's effort to protect religious liberties.

I ask you, Governor Brown, to stand alongside me, my constituents, the undersigned faith community leaders, and concerned Californians throughout our state in protecting religious liberty and direct DMHC to reverse this unconstitutional mandate.

Bishop Soto decries 40% increase in Medi-Cal abortion provider rates on the heels of a continued 10% rate cut for all other covered Medi-Cal procedures

The Most Rev. Jaime Soto, president of the California Catholic Conference and Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, issued the following statement upon word that the recently passed State Budget includes a 40% increase in rates paid to abortion providers, but continues a 10% cut in all other hospital and provider fees that endangers access to care for all women and families participating in the Medi-Cal Program:

“It’s no secret that millions of Californians, along with the Catholic Church, consider abortion the taking of an innocent human life. It is an intrinsic evil. No euphemism, no perversion of language can change that essential Truth.
“But buried deeply in the State Budget, and in the Medi-Cal Estimates provided by the Department of Health Care Services, is the fact that at a time when all health care provider rates remain slashed by 10% and women and families are struggling to find doctors, nurses and hospitals willing and able to provide essential medical care, abortion providers like Planned Parenthood and others are poised to receive a 40% increase in the fees they receive for performing abortions.
“This is insanely distorted health care. At a time when the state claims it is too poor to fully fund health care for nearly 10 million people, and women are struggling to find providers to give them basic medical care, the state returns a political favor by giving extra money to abortion providers.
“If that’s not bad enough, the Medi-Cal estimate that lays out this policy (attached), explains this is a cost-effective decision, because ‘Early statewide access insures services are less costly, whereas lack of access results in increased ongoing expenses for years.’
“In other words, it’s cheaper for state government to pay for abortions than care for mothers and children. By approving this budget, State elected officials are choosing abortion and pushing their preference on to women.
“What a callous and calculating thing for anyone to say, much less a government official.
“I call on Gov. Brown and the Department of Health Care Services to undo this wrong. Women deserve better. Children are not a threat to California. We believe abortion is bad health care for women and families. It is misguided to give special treatment to abortion providers. California should do better than this. Rollback this increase and fund essential health care, don’t double-down on something as wrong as abortion.”

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