WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump administration launched investigations into 13 states that require state-regulated health insurance plans to cover abortion. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' civil rights office launched the investigations to address alleged disregard of, or confusion about, compliance with the Weldon Amendment by certain states.

The Trump administration sent letters to the 13 states to gather more information about their compliance with the Weldon Amendment. The probes are part of a dispute between the political parties over how to interpret the Weldon Amendment, a provision included in federal spending laws each year.

The Weldon Amendment bars states from discriminating against health care entities that do not provide, cover or refer for abortion. Earlier this year, the Trump administration said the Weldon Amendment does pertain to employers and other health care sponsors. When President Joe Biden was in office, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' civil rights office said the Weldon Amendment did not pertain to employers or other health care sponsors.

The change in interpretation potentially puts states with abortion coverage requirements in violation of the Weldon Amendment because they may not allow employers or other health care issuers to opt out. The states with health insurance coverage requirements for abortion are California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.

All of the states under investigation except Vermont have governors from the Democratic Party. New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill said she will defend her state's health insurance coverage requirements for abortion. "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," Sherrill said.

Elizabeth Sepper, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin, said the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 proposal called for withholding Medicaid funding from states found to violate the Weldon Amendment. "What we're seeing here is the fulfillment of a promise to the religious right," Sepper said.

In 2020, President Donald Trump's administration moved to withhold federal health care funding from California over what it interpreted as a violation of the Weldon Amendment. In 2021, the Biden administration reversed the decision to withhold federal health care funding from California when it entered office.