Biden admin’s proposed health care mandate harms children, parental rights

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Julie Marie Blake regarding the formal comment ADF attorneys submitted Monday urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to withdraw its proposed rule that redefines “sex” in federal health law to add abortion, gender identity, and sexual orientation:

“The Biden administration’s proposed health care mandate would impair some of our most fundamental human rights: the right to life, freedom of speech, religious exercise, parental rights, and freedom of conscience. Specifically, the proposed rule disregards the sanctity of human life. It prohibits discrimination on the basis of ‘termination of pregnancy’—an action that could force physicians to perform abortions and employers to cover abortions in their health insurance plans—in direct violation of Title IX, which explicitly says it cannot be used to require people to provide or pay for any service related to abortions. President Biden’s proposal would also harm families and children and threatens to force doctors to act against their medical judgment, religious beliefs, and conscience. This vast overreach of executive authority is unlawful and harmful to American families and children, and we urge the administration to swiftly withdraw its proposed rule.”

ADF’s formal comment explains how since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, “the federal government now has an important opportunity to protect women and children. It thus should promote life-affirming laws and build a culture that recognizes that life is a human right and that women and their unborn children must be supported across the country. Instead, the proposed rule threatens to impose abortion mandates across healthcare.”

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.

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