(Reuters) - California on Friday fought back against a Trump administration threat to withhold federal funds for some health programs unless it stopped requiring health insurers to cover abortions, saying it would undermine the state's authority to protect women's reproductive rights.
Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Xavier Becerra, both Democrats, accused the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services of threatening billions of dollars of funding, not just for abortions, by reversing the Obama administration's view of a federal law governing insurance coverage.
In a letter to Roger Severino, director of HHS's Office for Civil Rights ("OCR"), Becerra said California already complied with the law, citing OCR's 2016 ruling in the state's favor in similar cases, and that a provision in the state constitution protected the right to have an abortion as a privacy right.
California's stance risks a possible showdown with HHS, which could try to expand any funding pullback to five other U.S. states that also require insurers to cover abortions.
Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Xavier Becerra, both Democrats, accused the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services of threatening billions of dollars of funding, not just for abortions, by reversing the Obama administration's view of a federal law governing insurance coverage.
In a letter to Roger Severino, director of HHS's Office for Civil Rights ("OCR"), Becerra said California already complied with the law, citing OCR's 2016 ruling in the state's favor in similar cases, and that a provision in the state constitution protected the right to have an abortion as a privacy right.
California's stance risks a possible showdown with HHS, which could try to expand any funding pullback to five other U.S. states that also require insurers to cover abortions.