Doe v. Burwell

Summary

In January 2015, Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration on behalf of an HIV-positive Rhode Island man after he lost his private health plan due to Obamacare and was forced on to the state exchange. Under Obamacare, every health insurance exchange plan in Rhode Island required individuals to directly pay a “separate payment” to cover elective abortions. The man is in critical need of health insurance coverage but does not want to compromise his pro-life beliefs. The lawsuit also challenged secrecy clauses within Obamacare which forbid Americans from being told prior to enrollment whether the plans they would purchase on an exchange will include abortion coverage and a hidden separate payment for abortions. The clauses also forbid Americans from being told how much of the premium is a federally mandated abortion surcharge that pays exclusively for other people’s elective abortions.