On Thursday, the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights issued its “final conscience rule that protects individuals and health care entities from discrimination on the basis of their exercise of conscience in HHS-funded programs.” The final rule serves as a way to implement and enforce more than two dozen provisions Congress has already passed which protect healthcare providers who function with a religious conscience.
The final rule fulfills President Trump’s promise to protect the fundamental and unalienable rights of conscience and religious liberty, a promise he made nearly two years ago when he signed an executive order protecting religious liberty. Even conservatives wondered if such an executive order would eventually come with some proverbial teeth, as often those rulings from any administration pander to the ideological base of whoever resides in office, but do little long term.
Andrea Picciotti-Bayer, a legal adviser for The Catholic Association, told me they applaud this decision, as no doubt many religious organizations will:
While there are already dozens of federal and state laws on the books protecting healthcare providers from doing things that violate their conscience, such as assisted suicide, for example, those laws are often interpreted in a muddled way or remain unenforced. Trump’s regulation simply outlines that the Department of Health and Human Services can enforce them, and those that try to force conscientious objectors to do something against their will can face severe consequences, such as having their federal funds severed.
In a statement, Becket Fund Vice President and Executive Director Montse Alvarado said:
Critics are already saying this will ensure that people who want controversial treatments, such as abortions or sex reassignment surgery, will enable healthcare providers to refuse treatment due to bigotry rather than genuine religious beliefs. However, the opposite (see Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission) happens far more often. The liberties of people of faith must be honored as much as those in need of treatment. This new rule paves the way for previous provisions, already in place, to be enforced the way they should have been all along.
Nicole Russell (@russell_nm) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner‘s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.
