Dear John, I need your help. We’ve been challenging a very damaging bill since its passage in 2017. Now there is something many pro-life advocates can do to help. The so-called “Reproductive Health Equity Act” (HB 3391) forces insurance companies in Oregon to cover abortions with no deductibles or copays. The law has many additional provisions which expanded abortion coverage. Now, any woman in Oregon can obtain an abortion essentially for free. From the beginning, we have believed that this law violates current federal law and is possibly unconstitutional. To that end we have never stopped our legal efforts against the law. After key court decisions in California, our legal team advised Oregon Right to Life to file a complaint with the federal HHS Office of Civil Rights. We did in January of this year. Recently, we received word that the HHS OCR is taking a serious look at Oregon’s law as a result of our complaint. This is great news! Now we need your help. You may be someone who can also file a complaint. You do not need a lawyer to do this and the process is really pretty simple. If you are interested in helping, first read this description from our legal team: If you qualify as a “religious employer” in Oregon, you are already exempted from the abortion coverage requirement. According to Oregon code, a “religious employer” is an employer: (a) whose purpose is the inculcation of religious values; (b) that primarily employs persons who share the religious tenets of the employer; (c) that primarily serves persons who share the religious tenets of the employer; and (d) that is a nonprofit organization under section 6033(a)(3)(A)(i) or (iii) of the Internal Revenue Code. Those welcomed to file a complaint can be (A) organizations or businesses that currently provide a health insurance plan but don’t want to keep coverage for abortion or (B) organizations or businesses that would like to provide coverage for their employees but will not do so as long as they are forced to include abortion coverage. Click the button for complete instructions on how to file a complaint. It is very straightforward. However, time is short, so please act right away. Because everyone deserves an advocate, Lois Anderson |