Trump Admin Probes 13 States on Abortion Coverage Mandates; Florida Escapes Scrutiny

The Trump administration announced Thursday it has launched federal investigations into 13 states that require state-regulated health insurance plans to cover abortion, escalating a long-running dispute over a federal conscience-protection provision known as the Weldon Amendment.

The Department of Health and Human Services' civil rights office sent letters to California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington — all of which mandate abortion coverage in state-regulated plans. All 13 states except Vermont have Democratic governors.

Florida is not among the states under investigation, as it does not require private insurers to cover abortion. That distinction has direct implications for Treasure Coast residents covered by state-regulated plans: workers and families in Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties who purchase coverage through Florida-regulated insurers are not affected by the federal probe. However, any Treasure Coast resident enrolled in a plan issued through one of the 13 targeted states — including multistate employer plans — could face coverage uncertainty if federal enforcement leads to policy changes.

The Weldon Amendment, enacted in 2005 and renewed annually in federal spending law, bars states from discriminating against health care entities that decline to provide, cover or refer for abortion. The HHS civil rights office aims "to address certain states' alleged disregard of, or confusion about, compliance with the Weldon Amendment," said HHS Civil Rights Office Director Paula M. Stannard.

"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 in a statement.

The Biden administration had interpreted the amendment as not applying to employers or health care sponsors — a reading the Trump administration reversed this year. New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill pushed back sharply Thursday, calling the probe "nothing but a fishing expedition wasting taxpayers' money."

Mary Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California, Davis, said interpretation of the amendment has followed a "partisan swing" since 2005 and the question has not been resolved in court. Elizabeth Sepper, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin, said the action tracks a recommendation in the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 policy blueprint to withhold Medicaid funding from noncompliant states. "What we're seeing here is the fulfillment of a promise to the religious right," Sepper said.

The HHS civil rights office did not set a public deadline for states to respond to its letters. No funding has been withheld as of Thursday.

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