Terre Haute - Oregon Right to Life (“ORTL”) has brought a challenge in federal court against Oregon's mandate that ORTL pay for abortion in its employee healthcare plan. ORTL argues that this requirement (the “Mandate”) should be struck down.

In 2017, Oregon adopted a law that required virtually all health insurance plans to cover abortion. Because ORTL does not qualify for this Mandate's narrow exception, this requires ORTL to purchase such plans for all of its employees. But ORTL opposes abortion on religious grounds.

As a result, ORTL filed suit to challenge the Mandate's constitutionality, because it is well-established that the First Amendment prohibits the government from requiring anyone to violate sincere religious beliefs without a “compelling” reason.

Thursday, James Bopp, of The Bopp Law Firm, PC, and counsel for ORTL, argued that the Mandate should be temporarily suspended (before a full trial to determine whether it should be permanently struck down), because Oregon cannot provide such a reason to justify it. Oregon faces an especially high burden in doing so. Beyond the Mandate's basic encroachment on religion, it also picks and chooses religious “winners” by purporting to define what a “religious organization”—and thus an organization worthy of exemption—is. This is another plain violation of the First Amendment, since the government may not dictate to the people what religious exercise should entail.

“It is absurd that Oregon would pass a law requiring a pro-life group to fund elective abortion,” said Attorney Bopp.

ORTL's brief in support of its motion for preliminary injunction is available here: