Health Care Clampdown

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TRANSCRIPT

Health care workers' freedom of conscience is on the line, and some U.S. lawmakers are stepping up to defend them.

In May 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, under direction from President Donald Trump, initiated the Conscience Rule, reinforcing health care workers' right to refuse to participate in abortions, sterilization procedures and physician-assisted suicide.

It was blocked in November by an Obama-appointed judge, and now federal pro-life advocates are stepping in to get the court to reverse its decision.

Last week, 13 senators from 11 states and 63 representatives from 26 states filed a friend of the court brief, joining in with 16 states' attorneys general filing their own brief at the beginning of May.

The attorneys general remind the court: "Health care is one area where protecting conscience is particularly vital."

Trump has been hailed as a champion for religious rights, signing an executive order in 2017.

President Donald Trump: "For too long the federal government has used the power of the state as a weapon against people of faith, bullying and even punishing Americans for following their religious beliefs."

Abortion activists are slamming the rule, with New York's attorney general Letitia James saying, "The federal government is giving health care providers free license to openly discriminate and refuse care to patients."

But if activists have their way, health care workers will have to choose between practicing medicine or following God's laws.

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