January 1, GOP Bill Could Force Christians to Fund Abortions Through Massive Union Loophole

Wyatt’s Take

• Republican-backed labor bill could let government-appointed arbitrators force Christian employers to fund abortions and transgender surgeries without worker or employer consent
• Major unions like Teamsters and AFL-CIO already pushing model contract language demanding abortion travel coverage and ‘gender-affirming’ procedures
• Twenty House Republicans joined Democrats to pass measure that bypasses workers’ right to vote on final contracts

A pro-union bill gaining steam in Congress with Republican backing is setting off alarm bells among Christian business leaders. They warn it could become a Trojan horse for forcing faith-based employers to bankroll abortions and transgender procedures.

The so-called Faster Labor Contracts Act sailed through the House last week with support from 210 Democrats and 20 Republicans. Here’s how it works: After 90 days of negotiations, either side can demand federal mediation.

If no deal emerges within 30 days, a three-person arbitration panel gets the power to impose labor contracts. Those contracts would be binding for up to two years — whether employers and workers agree or not.

Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri is championing the Senate version. He argues it will help workers push back against woke corporations.

But the Christian Employers Alliance sees a different picture entirely. The organization successfully beat back a Biden-era mandate forcing employers to pay for transgender procedures.

Now they’re sounding the alarm about this legislation.

<"Christian employers are increasingly concerned that collective bargaining agreements are being used to advance provisions involving abortion coverage, gender-transition procedures, DEI mandates, pronoun policies, and other ideological requirements that directly implicate matters of conscience and religious belief," Christian Employers Alliance President Margaret Iuculano wrote to lawmakers.

Iuculano told reporters her group isn’t worried about direct mandates in the bill’s text. The real danger lies in that binding arbitration provision.

“Because the legislation relies on binding arbitration to impose first contracts when negotiations fail, provisions of this nature could become part of an arbitrator-imposed agreement without the consent of either the employer or the employees,” she explained. “For Christian employers, that raises serious concerns about religious liberty, conscience protections, healthcare freedom, and the ability of faith-based organizations to govern their workplaces consistent with their sincerely held beliefs.”

A Hawley spokesman fired back, calling the concerns absurd.

“These absurd allegations about a strong bill to protect working people just show that giant corporations are desperate to kill legislation that would help American workers while they invest billions in DEI insanity,” the spokesman said. “Senator Hawley’s bill aims to put a shot clock on labor negotiations to stop corporations like Amazon from dragging their feet after workers win a vote to unionize fair and square.”

The spokesman insisted existing federal law already shields religious employers. He added that under the bill, arbitrators would be mutually chosen by both parties, not imposed by Washington.

Here’s the fine print: The union and employer each pick one arbitration representative. They then have a chance to agree on a third arbitrator together.

If they can’t agree within 14 days, the federal government steps in and appoints the third person. Republican Senators Roger Marshall of Kansas and Bernie Moreno of Ohio have signed on as cosponsors alongside 14 Democrats.

Critics point to unions’ track record of pushing left-wing social policies. Those same policies could easily get imposed during arbitration, they warn.

Take the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, one of the unions backing this legislation. The Teamsters once promoted a “Pride at Work” guidance document soaked in transgender ideology.

It featured the so-called “gender-bread person.”

The document included a section titled “Five Reasons LGBTQ Working People Need a Union.” One reason: “people in unions help ensure LGBTQ working people have their healthcare needs met,” specifically naming “gender confirmation surgery.”

Some Teamsters affiliates go even further. Teamsters Local 117 in Washington proudly declares on its website that “abortion rights are worker rights.”

“In America today, I cannot think of a single healthcare procedure that elected officials have used the legislative process to take choice away from men. Abortion rights are worker’s rights. The labor movement must take a critical stand and continue the fight for equal access to healthcare for all its members,” the local union said after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Kara Deniz, assistant director of communications for the Teamsters, dismissed the abortion and transgender concerns as corporate misdirection.

“This is a complete misdirection to basically facilitate their goal to try to stampede and block a bill that is having tremendous bipartisan support. Republicans and Democrats are supporting this bill,” she said. “I don’t think they even have those concerns. To be quite honest, I think that these ‘concerns’ are being brought up on behalf of the corporations.”

Deniz argued the goal is simply cutting down lengthy negotiations. It wouldn’t touch abortion or transgenderism, she claimed.

“I think it’s very unchristian to stand in the way of such legislation when it’s going to help people afford to live, and afford to be able to have a contract, and to not get hurt and injured on the job and be unsafe for 460 plus days because the employer refuses to give a contract,” she added. “I think that’s incredibly unchristian.”

But the AFL-CIO — the nation’s largest union federation — has already created model contract language demanding healthcare coverage for abortion and transgender procedures. That includes coverage from out-of-state providers.

“All health plans offered to bargaining unit members shall cover comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care services, including contraceptives, abortion services (procedural and pharmaceutical), and gender-affirming care,” the model language states.

The Service Employees International Union has made similar calls for local unions to bargain for so-called trans-inclusive healthcare.

Thomas Beck, a labor lawyer who previously served on the Federal Labor Relations Authority, said the Christian Employers Alliance has every reason to worry.

“I think it’s absolutely a concern,” he said, pointing to unions’ track record pushing abortion and transgender coverage. “They’re all proudly staking out these very progressive positions on some of the highest profile social issues of our time. And essentially they’re making it clear that they want to argue for these protections in collective bargaining agreements.”

Beck believes arbitrators would see abortion or transgender procedure coverage as easy wins to hand unions. The end result would be binding government regulation imposed through arbitration.

Vinnie Vernuccio, president of the Institute for the American Worker, highlighted another problem: union members don’t get a final vote when contracts go to arbitration.

“It’s going a bridge way too far to say the remedy for contract negotiations taking too long is to invite government bureaucrats and take away the ability of workers to vote on a contract,” he said.

Hawley’s spokesman countered that broader opposition to the bill is just cover for woke corporations fighting worker-friendly legislation. He noted employers help select arbitration representatives.

“It’s ironic that some of the biggest opponents of this legislation also promote the trans flag on their websites. Senator Hawley is fighting for the American worker, rather than the same Big Business who stands with the radical left to push woke, transgender ideology,” the spokesman said.

Reagan McCarthy, a spokeswoman for Senator Moreno, defended his support.

“Working class Americans helped elect President Trump, and Republicans must be the party of workers, not Wall Street,” she said.

Some corporations moved to push abortion coverage without any union pressure. Amazon, Apple, and JPMorgan all announced after the Roe decision that they’d pay for women to travel to end the lives of their unborn children.

Before becoming law, the bill would likely need approval from the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee. That could prove tough with Republicans controlling the committee.

It would also need to pick up around ten more Republican supporters to overcome a filibuster. And it would need President Donald Trump’s signature.

Why It Matters

This isn’t about helping workers or streamlining contracts. It’s about weaponizing the federal government to force Christian employers into funding procedures that violate their deeply held beliefs. When Republicans join Democrats to hand union bosses and government arbitrators the power to impose contracts — bypassing workers’ votes and trampling religious liberty — something has gone badly wrong. Hardworking Americans who live their faith don’t need Washington bureaucrats telling them they must pay for abortions and experimental surgeries. They need representatives who’ll stand up for conscience rights, not sell them out for union favors.