States sue to block healthcare conscience rights

WASHINGTON—Two dozen states and municipalities sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday over rules protecting medical workers who have religious or moral objections to abortion, assisted suicide, or sterilization. The suits, instigated by New York and California, claim HHS regulations issued earlier this month stop the provision of basic healthcare.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said the federal government is “giving healthcare providers free license to openly discriminate and refuse care to patients.” Roger Severino, director of the HHS Office for Civil Rights, said when the rule was announced earlier this month that it merely strengthens existing federal legislation protecting Americans’ conscience rights “so that doctors and nurses are no longer bullied out of the healthcare profession because they are pro-life.”