Administration to shield health workers who refuse to perform abortions or
treat transgender patients

By DAN DIAMOND and JENNIFER HABERKORN | 01/16/2018 10:06 PM EST

The Trump administration is planning new protections for health workers who don't want
to perform abortions, refuse to treat transgender patients based on their gender identity or
provide other services for which they have moral objections.
Under a proposed rule — which has been closely guarded at HHS and is now under review
by the White House — the HHS office in charge of civil rights would be empowered to
further shield these workers and punish organizations that don’t allow them to express
their moral objections, according to sources on and off the Hill.
HHS did not respond to multiple requests for comment. However, HHS’ leaders have
repeatedly criticized the Obama administration for rolling back regulations dating to the
George W. Bush administration that legally insulated health care workers while affirming
their religious freedoms.

Roger Severino, the Trump administration appointee who now leads the HHS civil rights
office, has repeatedly stressed that strengthening conscience protections for health care
workers is a top priority for his office.
The pending rule, which could be released as soon as this week, has been described to
POLITICO as establishing a new “division” of the HHS civil rights office that would conduct
compliance reviews, audits and other enforcement actions to ensure that health care
providers are allowing workers to opt out of procedures when they have religious or moral
objections.
The office would also conduct outreach and technical support to help others who are
seeking to strengthen protections for these workers.
The new rules — a priority for anti-abortion groups and supporters — could come just days
before Friday’s March for Life, the annual gathering in Washington marking the
anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision. Republicans have typically timed
votes on anti-abortion legislation to the event, the nation’s largest anti-abortion rally.
So-called conscience protections have been politically controversial since shortly after Roe
v. Wade legalized abortion in 1973.

The Obama administration in 2011 rewrote a series of Bush-era protections designed to
protect the moral and religious beliefs of health care workers. Opponents of the Bush rules
argue that they were too broad and could have allowed workers to opt out of end-of-life
care, providing birth control and treatment for HIV and AIDS. For instance, some workers
cited their moral objections when denying fertility treatment to lesbian couples or not
providing ambulance transportation to a pregnant woman seeking an abortion.
But supporters of the conscience protections say the Obama administration left objecting
workers out to dry, liable to be fired for refusing to assist in abortions.
“To be forced under pain of losing one’s job is just outrageous,” Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), cochairman
of the Bipartisan Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, said last week. President Trump
is “now looking to remedy that through the HHS mechanism — hasn’t happened yet, but it
will.”
Republicans in the House have also introduced legislation on the subject. Smith said
Trump has assured anti-abortion groups that he would sign the legislation.
Meanwhile, the HHS rule is currently under review at the White House Office of
Management and Budget, where it is publicly labeled as “Ensuring Compliance with
Certain Statutory Provisions in Health Care; Delegations of Authority.” The term
“Delegations of Authority” usually signals a pending department reorganization.

Severino — the HHS civil rights chief — has a long record of advocating for religious
groups and arguing against LGBT protections, such as serving as counsel in court battles
opposing same-sex marriage. Severino also has been a strong critic of providing
procedures to transgender patients seeking to transition.
“On the basis of religious teachings, moral reasoning, scientific evidence, and medical
experience, many have strong grounds to hold that one’s sex is an immutable
characteristic,” Severino and a co-author wrote in a Heritage Foundation report in January
2016. “Many involved in providing medical care and those enrolled in health insurance
plans have serious objections to participating in or paying for sex-reassignment surgeries
or gender transitions.”

HHS has undertaken a series of actions sought by activists who oppose abortion and LGBT
protections. For instance, the agency late last year solicited and selectively published
comments on how it could revise regulations like the Obama-era transgender protections,
to better favor religious and faith-based groups