Member of Congress Objects to HHS’ Moral/Religious Objections Division

In January 2018, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) created the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division, which ANCOR reported on at the time of its creation. Last week, U.S. Representative Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) introduced legislation to abolish this division. According to a snippet from Politico Pro: “The Trump administration has said the division is necessary to protect religious liberty in health care, but groups like the ACLU have warned that it will allow health workers to more easily discriminate against vulnerable populations.” The bill is titled ‘‘Eliminating the HHS 5 Discrimination Division Act of 2018’’ – a bill number is not yet available.

ANCOR is closely monitoring this situation to evaluate how this Division could affect people with disabilities and will let ANCOR members know of any significant developments.