HHS Acts to Protect Health Care Workers’ Conscience Rights

HHS’ Office for Civil Rights Reviews a Hospital’s Compliance with Federal Conscience Protections

Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) initiated a compliance review of a hospital to investigate the hospital’s compliance with Federal law that safeguards conscience rights in health care – a Federal conscience protection statute known as the Church Amendments. OCR opened the review based on information that ultrasound technicians employed by the hospital allegedly faced potential termination because they have religious objections to conducting ultrasounds in abortion procedures.

OCR facilitates and coordinates the Department's enforcement of the Federal health care conscience protection statutes and religious nondiscrimination statutes. The Federal health care conscience protection statutes protect individuals, health care entities, and providers from discrimination in health care by government or government-funded entities because of the exercise of religious beliefs or moral conviction. The investigation will examine whether the hospital, which is part of a larger health care system, accommodates its health care personnel who decline to perform or assist in the performance of abortion procedures contrary to their religious beliefs or moral convictions.

“The Department is committed to enforcement of our nation’s laws that safeguard the fundamental rights of conscience and religious exercise,” said Anthony Archeval, Acting OCR Director. “Health care professionals should not be coerced into, fired for, or driven out of the profession for declining to perform procedures that Federal law says they do not have to perform based on their religious beliefs or moral convictions.”

This matter is the second investigation of an entity’s compliance with laws protecting the exercise of conscience that OCR has initiated during President Trump’s second term. Today’s announcement is part of a larger effort to strengthen enforcement of laws protecting conscience and religious exercise.

OCR enforces Federal protections against discrimination based on conscience and religion in specific programs funded by HHS Federal financial assistance. For more information visit, https://www.hhs.gov/conscience/your-protections-against-discrimination-based-on-conscience-and-religion/index.html.

If you believe that your or another person’s conscience, civil rights, or health information privacy rights have been violated, you can file a complaint with OCR at https://www.hhs.gov/ocr/complaints/index.html.

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