During his term as president, Donald Trump created a rule that prohibited federal funding for medical facilities that required employees to provide abortions or sterilizations or participate in euthanasia. It did not mean that those procedures could not proceed, just that someone who had moral or religious objections had to be permitted to opt out of participating in them. They could not be compelled to do so.
The Hill reports that in the wake of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, the Biden administration is trying to partially rescind the Trump rule. The Thursday proposal by the Department of Health and Human Services would “restore the longstanding process for the handling of conscience complaints and provide additional safeguards to protect against conscience and religious discrimination.” While the proposal recognizes that some healthcare workers have religious or moral problems with and in fact may object to things like abortion or assisted suicide, it also states:
…patients also have autonomy, rights, and moral and religious convictions. And they have health needs, sometime[s] urgent ones. Our health care systems must effectively deliver services to all who need them in order to protect patients’ health and dignity.
Related: Federal Court Backs Catholic Medical Groups on Funding Gender Transition
Technically, the “conscience rule” never took effect and was blocked by three federal courts. However, the ACLU, the National Women’s Law Center, and other progressive groups lauded the move. According to Fox News, HHS stated:
“In light of these court decisions, and consistent with the administration’s commitment to safeguard the rights of federal conscience and religious nondiscrimination while protecting access to care, this [notice of proposed rulemaking] proposes to partially rescind the department’s 2019 rule while reinforcing other processes previously in place for the handling of conscience and religious freedom complaints,”
Health Secretary Xavier Becerra issued the following statement:
No one should be discriminated against because of their religious or moral beliefs, especially when they are seeking or providing care. The proposed rule strengthens protections for people with religious or moral objections while also ensuring access to care for all in keeping with the law.
Office for Civil Rights Director Melanie Fontes Rainer said:
Protecting conscience rights and enforcing the law to combat religious discrimination is critical. Today’s proposed rule would strengthen these protections and reinforce our long-standing process for handling such conscience and faith-based objections. It also would take steps to help ensure that individuals are aware of their rights.
HHS said that the 2019 Trump rule “provided broad definitions, created new compliance regulations and created a new enforcement mechanism for a number of statutes related to the conscience rights of certain federally funded health care entities and providers,” according to Fox. HHS also maintains that the provisions for conscience were redundant in light of previous federal legislation.
But here is an interesting factoid: There is a severe shortage of nurses across the nation, and in many facilities, nurses are overworked and their numbers are stretched thin. And if I am aware of this problem, so is the Biden administration. Conceivably, a short-staffed hospital could require healthcare workers to set their objections aside. It may be a case of “We know you oppose this procedure on religious grounds, but we don’t have the personnel to do it without you. Get in there, now.” Whether this rule comes at this time by accident or design I do not know. But nurses and other healthcare workers may soon find that participating in abortions is required, no matter their beliefs.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member