Today the House of Representatives passed a key pro-life bill to protect the conscience rights of pro-life Americans so they are not forced to be involved with abortions by either paying for them or being required to assist in them as medical workers.

Today, the House voted 245 to 182 to vote for the Conscience Protection Act with Republicans voting 242-1 for it and Democrats voting 181-3 against it. Three Democrats voted in favor of the bill (Cuellar, Lipinski, Peterson), and one Republican (Hanna) voted against the bill.

In one of the most egregious examples of the problem the bill seeks to address, churches in California are officially subject to an onerous state regulation that requires them to pay for abortions, thanks to a ruling by the Obama administration last month.

The troubling situation began in 2014 when the California Department of Managed Health Care reclassified abortion as a “basic health service” under the Affordable Care Act and ordered all insurance plans in the state to begin covering surgical abortions immediately. Even churches are not exempt from funding abortions.

The churches filed a lawsuit against the regulation last October, and it has been moving through the courts.

They also asked the Obama administration to uphold the Weldon Amendment — federal law that protects conscience rights. But, today, the HHS Office of Civil Rights released the results of its investigation into the California abortion mandate, stating it found no violation and is closing its investigation of the complaints without further action.

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As LifeNews reported, the Obama administration erroneously ruled that health insurance plans have no ability to exercise a moral opposition to funding abortions, and, therefore, California residents, churches and medical professionals have no right either.

Leading pro-life groups applauded the vote.

“State agencies in California and New York are mandating insurance coverage of abortion, and the Obama Administration recently made it clear that it will not enforce federal laws that prohibit such mandates,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “The Conscience Protection Act will allow direct access to the federal courts for the victims of coercive pro-abortion government policies.”

During the debate on the bill, Speaker Paul Ryan discussed the need for it and the problematic California situation.

“No one should be forced to violate their conscience—least of all by the federal government. That’s all this bill says. The federal government—or anyone who receives taxpayer dollars—cannot discriminate against health care providers who do not perform abortions. And if they do discriminate, this bill says the victims will have two avenues of relief: Either, file a complaint with the Department of Health and Human Services. Or, file a civil suit in court. That’s all this bill does,” Ryan said.

He continued:

“Now, our opponents say that this kind of thing just doesn’t happen. Nobody in their right mind would force someone against their will to help with an abortion. Well, tell that to Cathy DeCarlo. She was a nurse at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City. And a few years ago, she was forced to help with an abortion. “Mr. Speaker, this is not an isolated incident. There have been cases of nurses being suspended or threatened with firing solely for the offense of following their conscience. And now, the state of California requires all health insurance plans to cover abortion. So if you’re a church or a religious school, it doesn’t matter. You must cover this procedure. And if it violates your conscience, too bad. “Mr. Speaker, this is a disturbing trend. And what’s even more disturbing is that the federal government has not been protecting people’s rights. There are already laws on the books to protect people’s conscience. But after Cathy DeCarlo filed a complaint to HHS, she waited three years for a resolution. And when she filed a lawsuit, an appeals court said she didn’t have standing and threw out her case. That’s why this bill makes it perfectly clear: People of faith have standing, and they deserve relief.

Other speakers called for President Obama to uphold his words spoken at Notre Dame in 2009, when he said that we should ‘honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion’ and sign it into law. However, Obama has issued a veto threat of the legislation.

Last week, in an address to the National Right to Life Convention, NRLC president Carol Tobias laid out the case for the vote.