(ChurchLeaders) A church based in Bothell, Washington, is suing Insurance Commissioner Myron “Mike” Kreidler and Gov. Jay Inslee for the right not to provide abortions in its health coverage. Cedar Park Assembly of God, with the help of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), brought its complaint to a district court in March 2019. The court dismissed the suit in May 2020, and on Sept. 2, Cedar Park Church filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
“No church should be forced to cover abortions, and certainly not a church that dedicates its ministry to protecting and celebrating life like Cedar Park does,” said Elissa Graves, who serves as legal counsel with ADF. “Cedar Park believes and teaches that every human life begins at conception and is worthy of protection until natural death, so providing insurance coverage for abortions is clearly not something the church can or should be forced to do.”