Denouncing a Trump administration push to protect so-called “conscience rights in healthcare” as an attack on reproductive rights and marginalized patients, two dozen states and cities filed a complaint against the Health and Human Services Department and demanded that the rule be lifted.
New York Attorney General Letitia James led states including Massachusetts, Oregon, Virginia, and cities like Chicago in filing the lawsuit Tuesday, two months before the rule is set to go into effect.
“The devastating consequences of the rule would fall particularly hard on marginalized patients, including LGBTQ patients, who already confront discrimination in obtaining healthcare.” —Letitia James, New York Attorney General
Under the rule, opponents fear doctors and nurses would be given carte blanche to refuse to administer any medical procedure—with abortion care, gender confirmation surgery and hormone therapy for transgender patients, euthanasia, and sterilization likely coming under attack.
Employers would also be able to refuse to provide insurance coverage for procedures they consider objectionable.
“Once again, the Trump administration is putting politics over the health and safety of Americans,” said James in a statement. “The federal government is giving healthcare providers free license to openly discriminate and refuse care to patients—a gross misinterpretation of religious freedom that will have devastating consequences on communities throughout the country.”
Allowing providers to refuse to provide treatment due to their religious or moral beliefs could leave patients without life-saving care in many cases, critics say.
“The devastating consequences of the rule would fall particularly hard on marginalized patients, including LGBTQ patients, who already confront discrimination in obtaining healthcare,” James said.
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