RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AT HHS
U.S. Health and Human Services created a division to protect health care workers who decline to participate in care that goes against their beliefs.
WASHINGTON» Acting Health and Human Services secretary Eric Hargan on Thursday announced the creation of a new conscience and religious freedom division aimed at protecting doctors, nurses and other health-care workers who decline to participate in care that goes against their moral or religious convictions.
Speaking at an event featuring Republican lawmakers and religious leaders, Hargan noted that many of the nation’s hospitals, clinics and hospices are run by faithbased groups. And many have found themselves forced to provide services or referrals that violate what they believe.
“For too long, too many of these healthcare practitioners have been bullied and discriminated against,” he said.
While federal officials did not offer details about the enforcement office, a Conscience and Religious Freedom section appearing Thursday on the HHS site — which shows a female health-care worker in a Muslim headscarf — provides hints. The description of the division’s mandate cites abortion, sterilization and assisted suicide as examples of the types of procedures that would be covered. But the language is broad, and health experts said it appears likely to cover a host of other scenarios.
HHS said the protections will apply to discrimination or coercion of “providers who refuse to perform, accommodate or assist with certain health-care services on religious or moral grounds.” They would also apply to training and research activities, according to the department.
The announcement represents the latest move by the Trump administration to allow individuals and institutions to opt out of providing certain services or benefits based on their moral objections. In 2017, the administration issued new rules allowing exemptions for more employers, including for-profit businesses, from providing no-cost contraceptive coverage through their health insurance plans.