Under Trump’s rule, medical professionals were able to cite religion to deny specific patients care. Years after a federal court blocked the discriminatory ruling, it was finally repealed and replaced.
Pair of rules
The Trump Administration implemented two similar rules in May 2019, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Together, the two rules expanded the right to refusal at the expense of LGBTQ+ and pregnant patients.
Double Approach
The first rule expanded the right of providers to refuse to offer patients care based on religious reasons. The second rule reduced the protections afforded to LGBTQ+ and pregnant patients needing care.
No information
Under the two rules, healthcare professionals could even refuse to provide information to patients seeking care. These patients would then be making medical decisions without having been informed of all their options.
Widespread impact
Pharmacists could refuse to fill prescriptions. Employers could deny coverage for specific procedures. Healthcare professionals could ignore anti-discrimination policies that protect people based on their gender, sexual orientation, and other protected characteristics.
International impact
The rules would even have affected patients around the world. Any organization that received funding from the HHS could have been forced to implement refusal rights.
Court blocks
Both rules were blocked by federal courts in 2019. “No one should have to worry they will be denied the medical care they need simply because of their health care provider’s religious, moral, or personal beliefs,” the CEO of Planned Parenthood said in November after one of the rules was struck down by a New York court.
New rule
On Tuesday, the HHS issued a new, final rule that eliminated the possibility of healthcare providers refusing care on religious grounds. “No patient — no matter their religion, sex, race, gender identity, or sexual orientation — should fear being denied the medical care they need,” said Jennifer Pizer, chief legal officer at Lambda, “based on other people’s religious beliefs.”
Dire consequences
Trump’s rules “confronted health care facilities with the real risk of losing essential federal funding if they did not grant employees carte blanche to deny services,” Pizer explained. “Many health care facilities could have been forced to eliminate services such as reproductive and LGBTQ care, leaving millions across the United States without access to critical health care.”
Man responsible
The rule was supported by Roger Severino, an anti-LGBTQ+ activist who Trump appointed to lead the HHS’s Office of Civil Rights. The position is meant to uphold civil rights protections, but Severino used it to push for religious exemptions.
No moderate
In 2017, the Human Rights Campaign described Severino as a “radical anti-LGBTQ activist.” He has worked with the conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation for years.
Sign of what’s coming
Severino contributed to Project 2025, a plan led by the Heritage Foundation to radically change the US government in the event of a Republican victory in 2024. A vast database of potential conservative officials will “prepare an army of vetted, trained staff to begin dismantling the administrative state from Day 1” of a Republican administration, according to the Foundation’s president, Kevin Roberts.
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