Republican lawmakers and proponents of religious liberty are pushing to include legislation in the omnibus spending bill that would protect health care workers from being forced to perform abortions.
Rep. Diane Black, Tennessee Republican, said the Conscience Protection Act would provide a legal remedy for pro-life doctors, nurses, insurance providers and other health care workers who are coerced into participating in abortions under threat of losing their jobs.
“This is not about taking away anyone’s right to abortion or changing their mind — although I’d like to, but that’s not what this is about,” said Ms. Black, who sponsored the legislation. “This is asking to protect the fundamental rights of Americans, and the time to do it is now.”
The Conscience Protection Act would create a private right of action whereby workers who face discrimination because of their pro-life views can seek relief in federal court.
State and local governments that receive federal funding may not “penalize, retaliate against, or otherwise discriminate against a health care provider” on the basis of the provider’s willingness to “perform, refer for, pay for, or otherwise participate in abortion.”
The House passed the measure in 2016, but it failed to gain traction in the Senate. The Obama administration opposed the bill.
The bill was introduced in the House by Ms. Black and Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, Nebraska Republican, and in the Senate by Sen. James Lankford, Oklahoma Republican. The measure has 131 co-sponsors in the House and 26 in the Senate.
The Weldon Amendment is supposed to protect pro-life health care providers from governmental discrimination, but the Obama administration’s Department of Health and Human Services refused to intervene in 2016 when California moved to force churches to cover elective abortions in their health care plans.
House leadership has signaled that a vote on the must-pass spending bill will take place next week.
Congress has until March 23 to pass the $1.2 trillion legislation in order to avoid a government shutdown.
Ken Klukowski, senior counsel and director of strategic affairs at the First Liberty Institute, which specializes in religious liberty litigation, said attaching the Conscience Protection Act to the spending bill is an excellent strategy.
“It would be a real shame for opponents of religious liberty to torpedo must-pass legislation just because it includes the common-sense protection of enabling honorable and decent Americans to live their lives consistent with their consciences,” Mr. Klukowski said.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops also supports the legislation. In a joint statement, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York and Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville said the Conscience Protection Act is “urgently needed to protect Americans from being forced to violate their deeply held convictions about respect for human life.”
“Nurses and other health care providers and institutions are being forced to choose between participating in abortions or leaving health care altogether,” they said in the joint statement. “Churches and pro-life Americans are being forced to provide coverage for elective abortions — including late-term abortions — in their health care plans. Opponents and supporters of abortion should be able to agree that no one should be forced to participate in abortion.”
Ms. Black, a registered nurse, said too many health care workers are forced to choose between their livelihoods and their religious and moral convictions against taking human life.
She quoted Thomas Jefferson: “No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the enterprises of civil authority.”
“And that’s exactly what’s happening in this situation,” Ms. Black said. “These health care workers have deeply held beliefs and the right of conscience not to participate in the taking of life.”
• Bradford Richardson can be reached at brichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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