Know Your Rights: Can Healthcare Workers Be Forced To Participate in Abortions? The Law Protects Conscience Rights

The right of healthcare workers—including pharmacists, nurses, and doctors—to practice their profession according to their religious and moral consciences continues to be threatened. And that threat doesn’t just come from within the workplace (hospitals, pharmacies, etc.), but from the government itself. Indeed, the Biden Administration has promised—and is actively taking steps to fulfill that promise—to reverse the protection of conscience rights through federal regulations. The ACLJ stands ready and willing—as it has for decades now—to represent medical professionals who are pressured by their employer or the government to violate their conscience and religious beliefs in the delivery of healthcare services.

During the recent pandemic, the nation heard about the heroic efforts of healthcare workers striving to save lives in the face of unprecedented challenges. For their commitment to preserving life during trying times, and sometimes at great risk, they deserve our respect. And that respect must include acknowledging and defending their right not to participate in certain “healthcare” procedures that many nurses and doctors believe would violate their fundamental moral, religious, and ethical principles. Chief among these procedures is, of course, abortion.

In fact, during the pandemic, the ACLJ was contacted by nurses and other healthcare workers who were threatened with the loss of their livelihoods—not because of budget cuts or financial restraints—but because of their stance on the sanctity of life. One nurse with over 40 years’ experience in a small community hospital was told that even her private expression to colleagues of her opposition to abortions being performed in her facility could result in her termination. Another professional was asked to sign a form that, while purportedly recognizing a conscience-based opt-out right, contained so many easily abused exceptions that it amounted to little more than a target on his back.

Medical personnel cannot be ordered about as mindless cogs in the healthcare machine. They are professionals with a conscience, whether that conscience is formed by religious beliefs or moral principles or both. If we do not stand up and support the conscience rights of healthcare workers, we will soon have a nationwide medical establishment that is guided by no ethical standards at all.

While we as a country could do much more to protect the conscience rights of healthcare workers, there are some legal protections that exist and that we at the ACLJ have successfully used in the past to vindicate the rights of our clients. On the federal level, two are preeminent: first, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, commonly referred to as “Title VII,” which prohibits religious discrimination in the workplace; and second, the so-called “Church Amendments,” which protect the conscience rights of workers and institutions in the healthcare industry.

Title VII prohibits employers with more than 15 employees from discriminating against an employee based on his or her religious beliefs. Title VII doesn’t just make it illegal to refuse to hire a person because he’s Jewish or to fire an employee because she’s Catholic. Title VII also prohibits an employer from refusing to “accommodate all aspects of religious observance and practice,” unless doing so would create an “undue hardship on the conduct of the employer’s business.” In other words, under federal law, an employer must (absent undue hardship) eliminate a conflict between an employee’s sincerely held religious beliefs and a job requirement—and must do so without firing, demoting, or otherwise discriminating against the employee.

The second legal framework that can be used to protect healthcare workers is the so-called “Church Amendments.” These laws (named after Senator Frank Church) were enacted in the 1970s to protect the conscience rights of individuals who and entities that object to performing or assisting in the performance of abortion or sterilization procedures if doing so would be contrary to the provider’s religious beliefs or moral convictions.

While on their face the Church Amendments are highly protective of the conscience rights of medical personnel, no court has yet held that a person has a “private right of action” under these laws. In other words, when someone’s rights under the Church Amendments have been violated, only the government can seek to right that wrong in court. The injured person cannot do it on his or her own, but must file a complaint with the HHS Office of Civil Rights. We have filed such complaints on behalf of medical professionals in the past. (For more on conscience legal protections, see the ACLJ white paper here.)

Pro-life medical personnel, who have been compelled or pressured by their employer or the government to violate their conscience, face a difficult choice. They can either surrender to the coercion or object. Saying no to one’s employer, not to mention the government, is of course not easy. Those taking a stand in defense of their conscience need guidance on what steps to take, how to seek a religious accommodation (if available), and, if necessary, legal representation to vindicate their rights.

That’s where the ACLJ has been—and continues to be—a vital resource for pro-life medical professionals. The ACLJ not only works in the public arena, halls of Congress, and state legislatures in support of conscience rights, we provide free legal advice and representation to medical personnel faced with a choice no one should have to make: your career or your conscience.

As the Biden Administration and corporations continue to ramp up their attacks on the rights of nurses, doctors, pharmacists, and others in the medical field to follow their conscience, the ACLJ is prepared to intervene on behalf of professionals whose commitment and witness to the sanctity of human life are deserving of legal protection.

We are dedicated to defending your constitutional rights. We have been providing assistance and legal representation, at no cost or charge, to people just like you for decades. If your rights are being violated in this area, please contact us at ACLJ.org/HELP.