Governor Jerry Brown: Abortion ‘Champion’

California Gov. Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown Jr., has been busy lately continuing to champion the cause for abortion rights in California. Brown recently signed a bill into law that would require all insurance companies to provide abortions under their policies.

The result would require all employers, even those employers who are opposed to abortions on religious grounds, to provide insurance that would cover the cost of abortions.

The action taken by Brown directly contradicts what Brown’s Department of Managed Health Care previously approved. Until the new bill, DMHC had formerly approved insurance plans to deny coverage of ‘elective’ abortions based upon religious beliefs.

Universities, such as Santa Clara and Loyola Marymount, had been allowed to deny coverage for abortions on the grounds that providing such coverage was against their religious beliefs.

With the passage of the new law, Brown has essentially thumbed his nose at the religious tenets protected under the Constitution by requiring employers’ insurance policies to financially subsidize employees’ abortions.

Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, called Brown’s move “morally obscene” and urged employers to file religious-freedom lawsuits.

The Life Legal Defense Foundation, Alliance Defending Freedom and Cardinal Newman Society penned a letter to the DMHC reminding them that, “Federal law prevents California from mandating that a health insurance plan include abortion coverage.”

The group is asking the federal government to cut-off federal funding citing the Weldon amendment, enacted by Congress, which requires the forfeiting of all federal funding for health, education and labor by a state if it subjects any institutional or healthcare entity to discrimination on the basis and it does not provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions.

This would mean a loss of approximately $89.5 billion that California is set to receive from the federal government in 2014 for health, education, and labor, according to a statement by the state Finance Department.

Margaret Crosby, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union in San Francisco, offered a solution for those leveling complaints against the law.

Crosby said the law is just neutrally enforcing its fundamental policies protecting reproductive health care.

The employers opposed, insure themselves, she said.

Crosby’s argument would undoubtedly force employers to seek insurance policies outside of the state at a higher cost for services, assuming they can even find a policy that meets all of California’s requirements.

Perhaps Brown’s legislative maneuvering should come as no surprise to the pro-life, religious entities that oppose his newly signed law.

In October, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez published an article about Brown on the front page of Angelus, an archdiocesan publication, lauding him with praise for signing into law, a measure that would give illegal immigrants a California driver’s license.

Gomez, who attended the Oct. 3 signing ceremony, could not suppress his enthusiasm for Brown and how the bill would open doors, and the borders, to comprehensive immigration reform in the United States.

The U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops, following Gomez’s appearance with Brown, adopted a resolution preventing Catholic institutions from honoring pro-abortion politicians, like Brown, in the future.

It is no surprise that Brown is a pro-abortion politician and it’s also no secret that California is leading the way when it comes to access for abortions.

California is the only state in the nation to increase access by enacting AB154, written by Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, (D-San Diego).

The bill signed into law by Brown last year, allows medical professionals that are not doctors, such as nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives and physician assistants, with training, to perform abortions by aspiration. This procedure suctions out the contents of a woman’s uterus.

Although the bill ultimately passed and was signed into law, no Republicans voted for the law.

Brian Johnston, executive director of the California ProLife Council and the National Right to Life Committee’s Western director, said the reason the Legislature passed the bill into law was because honest doctors have read the Hippocratic oath.

“What this is doing is creating a whole new pool of abortionists. It’s surgery by people who are not surgeons,” he said.

This small detail was no problem for Brown, who by signing the bill, redefined aspirations as being “non-surgical.”

During that same time period in 2013, Brown also signed another bill, which repealed any sections of the California Building Standards Code that treats primary-care clinics differently if they perform abortion procedures.

In a crucial re-election year for Brown, getting as many voters on his side as possible, may be the impetus for passing the abortion bills.

However, according to Kathy Kneer, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, Brown has always been a champion for women’s reproductive health, and he’s proven it once again.

Brown’s support of abortion does not appear to have had a negative effect on his main campaign of getting re-elected as governor in this predominantly Democratic state. Brown easily won in the primaries against his opponent getting 54.1 percent of the votes to his opponent’s 19.5 percent.

It currently appears that Brown will be able to enact more pro-abortion laws for at least four more years.