A Christian group of doctors is set to receive $300,000 from the state of California after it attempted to mandate that doctors provide assisted suicide services, according to a Wednesday press release from Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).

A lawsuit was filed against state Attorney General Rob Bonta in February 2022 by the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA), after California passed SB 380, which removed protections for religious medical professionals who refuse to participate in assisted suicide. A federal judge ruled that the law likely violated the First Amendment rights of the physicians and the state recently agreed to pay $300,000 to CMDA in attorney’s fees, according to a press release. …

“Having found Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their First Amendment free speech claim, the Winter factors favor a preliminary injunction,” the judge wrote in the opinion. “Plaintiffs have demonstrated they are likely to suffer a violation of a constitutional right absent an injunction, and ‘[i]t is well established that the deprivation of constitutional rights ‘unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury.’”

[Everyone who voted to approve this bill should be forced to contribute to the settlement. — Ed]