The state on Tuesday reported 38,374 new confirmed cases, plus 15,337 from previous days, according to the California Department of Public Health. The two measures re-affirm the administration's continued focus on health care providers' religious and moral objections to controversial health care procedures, such as abortion, under President Donald Trump. OCR found in January that California's requirement that state-regulated health plans cover abortions discriminated "against health care plans and issuers that did, or would otherwise, limit or exclude abortion coverage in their plan products." "Given this fact, as OCR itself has recognized, California has not subjected any health care entity to conduct restricted under the Weldon Amendment," Becerra wrote at the time. Severino did not address CNN's question about the timing of cutting $200 million in Medicaid funding in the midst of the worsening coronavirus pandemic.

Source: CNN December 17, 2020 05:03 UTC