The California Catholic Conference has filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) after an August 22 directive to health care providers ordering them to cover abortion for any reason because it was "basic health care."

According to the bishops of California, their complaint, which was filed with the HHS,  accuses the California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) of violating their civil rights by forcing them to purchase health insurance covering all forms of voluntary direct abortion, including late-term and gender selection.

This new mandate was instituted by an August 22 mandate sent to the heads of eight different health insurance plans ordering them to remove any exclusions regarding voluntary abortion because it was "basic health care" and therefore could not be excluded.

“For the first time in California — indeed, for the first time anywhere in the United States — health plans are now required, as a matter of regulatory fiat, to cover all legal abortions, even late-term abortions, for any reason,” the complaint stated.

“It is a flagrant violation of their civil rights and deepest moral convictions, and is government coercion of the worst kind,’’ said a statement from Bishop Robert McElroy, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, who called the mandate "a coercive and discriminatory action" by the state.

“This demand by the State was directly targeted at Catholic institutions like Santa Clara University, Loyola Marymount University, along with other California employers and citizens. It is a flagrant violation of their civil rights and deepest moral convictions, and is government coercion of the worst kind.”

He continued: “Catholic beliefs about life and human dignity animate and shape our Catholic ministries. It’s why we oppose abortion, but it is also why Catholic schools provide education, Catholic hospitals care for the poor and vulnerable and why Catholic social services provide assistance to people and families in need. It goes to the core of our moral beliefs."

The HHS Office of Civil Rights has jurisdiction in this matter because of a federal law known as the “Weldon Amendment” that was enacted to protect the conscience rights of individuals and institutions. In this case, the Office of Civil Rights can cut-off California’s access to federal funds unless or until it stops its discriminatory practices.

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