Defense of Conscience in Health Care Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Defense of Conscience in Health Care Act directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue, within six months after enactment, a final rule under federal conscience and anti-discrimination laws that is identical or materially equivalent to the former 45 CFR part 88 rule in effect on July 22, 2019. It also requires the new final rule to state that it supersedes any contrary rule in existence on the issuance date. The bill therefore hardwires a particular health care conscience-rights enforcement framework into HHS rulemaking, affecting providers and institutions that object to participating in certain services, HHS civil-rights staff, federally funded health care entities, and patients whose access may depend on how those refusals are handled.
Who Benefits and How
Health care workers with conscience objections benefit because HHS must restore a stronger federal rule protecting refusal rights. Religious health care institutions benefit because the restored part 88 framework supports institutional objections under federal conscience laws. Conscience-rights advocacy organizations benefit from a statutory deadline and supersession instruction for HHS rulemaking. HHS Office for Civil Rights staff benefit from a clear congressional directive to use the 2019 rule as the model.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The Department of Health and Human Services must issue the final rule within six months and make it supersede contrary rules. Federally funded health care entities must update compliance policies to match the restored conscience-rights framework. Patients seeking contested services may face access barriers if providers or institutions invoke the restored refusal protections. State health regulators must account for federal preemption or supersession claims tied to the restored rule.
Key Provisions
- Requires HHS to issue a final conscience-rights rule within six months.
- Directs the rule to be identical or materially equivalent to the July 22, 2019 45 CFR part 88 rule.
- Provides that the new rule supersedes contrary rules existing on the issuance date.
- Uses the former rule's definition of federal conscience and anti-discrimination laws.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Requires HHS within six months to restore a rule materially equivalent to the July 22, 2019 federal health care conscience-rights regulation and make it supersede contrary rules.
Key Policy Areas
Health Care, Civil Rights, Administrative Law
Primary Purpose
Requires HHS within six months to restore a rule materially equivalent to the July 22, 2019 federal health care conscience-rights regulation and make it supersede contrary rules.
Policy Domains
Resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- Health care workers with conscience objections
- Religious health care institutions
- Conscience-rights advocacy organizations
- HHS Office for Civil Rights staff
Identified Costs
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Federally funded health care entities
- Patients seeking contested services
- State health regulators
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Moolenaar introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Federally funded health care entities, Patients seeking contested services, Religious health care institutions
Positive-direction: Religious health care institutions
Negative-direction: Federally funded health care entities, Patients seeking contested services
Health care workers with conscience objections
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology