Christians Sue State over ‘Abortion Mandate’.
ALBANY, N.Y. — Pushing back against the state’s notoriously liberal stance on abortion, a number of New York’s Christian organizations served the Department of Financial Services with a lawsuit, claiming the agency obscured regulatory language which forces employers to cover abortions.
The 44-page filing in Albany County Supreme Court uses terms like “moral evil” and “unspeakable crime” to describe abortion. It highlights a section of the “model language” used by DFS over the last two years — a standard state form which dictates how insurance companies operating in-state should present their coverage to clients.
According to the lawsuit, Section 6 of the “model language” includes a subsection dealing with “Interruption of Pregnancy.” The language states: “We cover therapeutic abortions. We also cover non-therapeutic abortions in cases of rape, incest or fetal malformation.”
“Practically speaking, ‘therapeutic’ would include abortions for emotional health, fetal health, fetal malformation,” said Mary DeTurris Poust, spokesperson for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany. “Really, we’re talking about any abortion.”
The Diocese of Albany is one of 13 plaintiffs in the lawsuit, which also includes Episcopalians, Baptists, Lutherans, a nursing company and a general contractor in Plattsburgh. Their document goes to significant lengths to outline core beliefs on the “sanctity of every life,” including a number of paragraphs dealing with the concept of life beginning at conception in the mother’s womb.
The group claims the model language was “known only to DFS and the health insurers, and never disclosed to plaintiffs.” They go on to say they were caught unaware when their respective insurance companies informed the group that “they had been separately covering abortions under the service category of ‘medically necessary’ surgery.”
“There is a possibility that we could have already been forced to pay for an abortion,” DeTurris Poust said on Friday.
The full story is here. I will be forever grateful that when I had an abortion back in the 1970s, no one thought that was any of their business. Mine was quiet and professional, and there were no screaming, hateful people anywhere, thinking they had an absolute right to interfere with a private decision to have a medical procedure.
Siobhan says
I’m always astonished at their ability to say something without actually conveying useful information. After all, there is a possibility I’ve paid for someone’s child benefit, despite having no children myself. TAXES! COMMUNISTS!!
Caine says
I know, it’s this constant hysteria, oh noes, I *may* have contributed pennies to something I don’t like! Yeah, well, join the club. Taxes, how do they fucking work!?
blf says
I may have paid moar in tax because the xian freeloaders don’t pay tax!
AlexanderZ says
Understandably, the Albany diocese has a vested interest in there being more vulnerable children.
After all, there is only one “moral evil” in the world and that’s abortions!
lorn says
“We cover therapeutic” appendectomies. “We also cover non-therapeutic” appendectomies.
Badland says
“notoriously liberal stance on abortion.” So much wrong in so few words