Trump administration launches investigation of states that mandate
health insurance covers abortion
[March 20, 2026]
By GEOFF MULVIHILL and ALI SWENSON
The Trump administration said Thursday that it has launched
investigations into 13 states that require state-regulated health
insurance plans to cover abortion.
The probes are the latest in a long-running dispute between the
political parties on how to interpret a provision, known as the Weldon
Amendment, that's included in federal spending laws each year. It bars
states from discriminating against health entities that don't provide,
cover or refer for abortion.
When Democrat Joe Biden was president, the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services' civil rights office said the provision didn't pertain to
employers or other health care sponsors. The Trump administration said
this year that it does.
The administration says that potentially puts states with abortion
coverage requirements in violation of the law, because they may not
allow employers or other health care issuers to opt out. It said it was
sending out letters to gather more information from those states.
The HHS civil rights office launched the investigations “to address
certain states’ alleged disregard of, or confusion about, compliance
with the Weldon Amendment,” office Director Paula M. Stannard said in a
statement.
“Under the Weldon Amendment, health care entities, such as health
insurance issuers and health plans, are protected from state
discrimination for not paying for, or providing coverage of, abortion
contrary to conscience. Period,” Stannard said.
The states with the coverage requirements are California, Colorado,
Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New
Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. All except Vermont
have Democratic governors.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said in a statement Thursday that she'll
defend her state's policies.
“New Jersey requires health insurance plans to follow all applicable
laws, including protecting women’s reproductive freedom. So Donald
Trump’s latest ‘investigation’ is nothing but a fishing expedition
wasting taxpayers’ money," she said.
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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services building is seen,
April 5, 2009, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
 The Weldon Amendment is one of a
series of provisions known as conscience laws, which provide legal
protections for individuals and health care entities that choose not
to provide abortions or other types of care because of religious or
moral objections.
In the years since it was enacted in 2005, there’s been a “partisan
swing” in how broadly or narrowly it is interpreted depending on
which party is in office, according to Mary Ziegler, a law professor
at the University of California, Davis.
Ziegler said the fact that employers and plan sponsors are not
mentioned among health care entities in the text of the Weldon
Amendment could give Democrats an edge with their interpretation,
but the question has yet to be resolved in court.
Elizabeth Sepper, a law professor at the University of Texas at
Austin, said the Heritage Foundation's massive policy proposal known
as Project 2025 called for an incoming Trump administration to
withhold Medicaid funding for states found to violate the Weldon
Amendment.
"What we’re seeing here is the fulfillment of a promise to the
religious right," she said.
President Donald Trump's first administration in 2020 moved to
withhold federal health care funding for California over what it
interpreted as a Weldon Amendment violation, but the Biden
administration entered office the next year and reversed the
decision.
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