Religious Restrictions

In late August, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed a rule that would undermine patient's access to vital health services and information by greatly expanding existing laws intended to govern the right to refuse to provide abortion care. The public comment period ended on September 25. Though a complete list of all comments is not yet available, a broad range of individuals and organizations opposed the rule.

Workers who wish to assert a religious objection to a job assignment currently have protection under the federal law prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of religion, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII has been applied in many cases involving the religious rights of health care workers, the very same issue that the proposed rule seeks to address. Yet, the rule fails to mention the success of Title VII in allowing employers the flexibility to respect employees’ religious beliefs while crafting solutions that allow timely access to health care services for customers and patients.