A hidden abortion agenda in the Equality Act

As the Equality Act moves through Congress, pro-life groups are sounding the alarm about provisions in the legislation that would boost the abortion industry. The act expands LGBT protections at the expense of religious freedom. But it would also threaten the conscience rights of pro-life taxpayers and medical workers by forcing them to participate in abortion. The Democratic-controlled House passed the measure on Thursday. It’s unlikely to make it through the evenly split Senate, where it needs 10 Republican votes to overcome a filibuster.

In addition to adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the definition of “sex” in the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the legislation also includes pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and federal courts have interpreted such conditions to cover abortion. So refusing to participate in an abortion could qualify as discriminating on the basis of sex under the measure. That would apply to hospitals, medical professionals, and even health insurance companies.

The act singles out federal and state health programs and other organizations that receive government funding, making U.S. citizens complicit in the abortion industry through their tax dollars. “This means no doctor that serves Medicaid patients will be allowed to disagree,” Live Action president Lila Rose said. “No hospital that accepts Medicare will be allowed to refuse, and no citizen will be able to stop her hard-earned money from paying for the deaths of the youngest and most vulnerable people in our society.”

On top of that, the act explicitly prevents conscientious objectors from finding protection under the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act. That law allowed Little Sisters of the Poor and Hobby Lobby to avoid offering potentially abortive contraceptives under their healthcare insurance plans. The act offers no alternative protections for objectors, overlooking past legislation such as the Hyde and Church Amendments. The Hyde Amendment prevents taxpayer dollars from directly funding abortion procedures and the Church Amendments protect healthcare professionals in federally funded facilities from discrimination based on their opposition to abortion.

“This legislation is a club to punish dissent,” Rose said. “The goal of this legislation isn’t to celebrate and respect women as they are. It is an attempt to compel women to act like the worst of men who desire sex without consequences and life without commitments.”