Trump Admin Creating Policy to Allow Health Workers With Religious or Moral Objections to Discriminate

New Rule Would Reorganize HHS Office for Civil Rights and Allow Federal Government Outreach to Groups Working to Enable Discrimination

The Trump administration is preparing new policy to enable health care workers claiming religious or moral objections to discriminate against transgender patients, or to refuse to perform or assist in performing abortion services. According to Politico the new rule could be announced in time for Friday’s March for Life, an annual anti-choice rally held in Washington, D.C., organized in part by the religious right to drive support for overturning Roe v. Wade.

Roger Severino, Trump’s highly controversial Director of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the Department of Health and Human Services, reportedly is spearheading a reorganization of the division to enforce compliance and dole out punishments to organizations that might violate the new protections. 

Not only would this new office “punish organizations that don’t allow” health care workers “to express their moral objections,” but it would “also conduct outreach and technical support to help others who are seeking to strengthen protections for these workers,” Politico reports.

In other words, a taxpayer-funded arm of the federal government might actively partner with, for example, the Family Research Council to help undermine the civil rights of transgender patients or women seeking abortion services. It could be like OSHA but instead of ensuring safe working conditions it would ensure health care workers are allowed to discriminate against transgender people and women seeking abortions. 

Just days ago the complaint portal website for the Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Health and Human Services was updated to include greatly expanded language on Federal Conscience and Religious Freedom Laws.

Here’s a screenshot of the page on January 13:

Here’s a screenshot of the page today:

The updated page includes an entirely new category of complaint: Violation of Conscience or Religious Freedom.

Severino has a history of anti-transgender positions, notably when he was the Director of the DeVos family’s Center for Religion and Civil Society, Institute for Family, Community, and Opportunity at The Heritage Foundation. He also served as legal counsel for the right wing Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.

Politico adds that Severino “has repeatedly stressed that strengthening conscience protections for health care workers is a top priority for his office.”

His appointment was condemned by LGBT civil rights groups last year.

“Severino has called the efforts of agencies such as OCR to protect transgender people from discrimination an ‘abuse of power‘ wielded ‘to coerce everyone…into pledging allegiance to a radical new gender ideology,'” a joint statement signed by eight progressive and LGBT civil rights groups charged.

UPDATE –
The DNC is blasting the Trump administration over this move:

“Once again, women and the LGBTQ community are under attack from the Trump-Pence administration. Days before the anniversary of the Women’s March, Republicans are giving health workers a license to discriminate against women and members of the LGBTQ community,” DNC Director of Women’s Media Elizabeth Renda and Director of LGBTQ Media Lucas Acosta tell NCRM in an email statement. 

“It wasn’t enough to try to strip transgender Americans of their right to serve, roll back access to birth control, and attempt to defund Planned Parenthood. Now Trump, Pence, and their Republican cronies want to allow health care workers to discriminate and rip away access to medical care. This rule is unethical and dangerously undermines public health.” 

“This proposal is further proof that Republicans continue to push forward an agenda completely out of step with the American people and American ideals. Democrats will continue to focus on how to improve access to health care for all Americans regardless of gender, orientation, or income.”

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