HHS receives 300 religious rights complaints in a month
A month after HHS’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) launched its new division focused on investigating religious or moral objections by healthcare professionals, more than 300 individuals have sent in complaints about their rights being violated, according to The Hill.
This would represent a dramatic increase from the 10 conscience protection complaints OCR director Roger Severino said the office received from 2008 to 2016 and the 34 sent in since President Donald Trump was elected in Nov. 2016.
“We’ve announced to the world that we’re open for business and the public is responding,” Severino said in a statement to The Hill.
Violations could result in a healthcare provider losing government funding if they’re found to have discriminated against a worker who objected to certain procedures, like abortions or assisted suicides. The new division’s website also states it would handle complaints from professionals who feel they’ve been punished for participating in those same procedures, but so far, its rhetoric has been almost solely focused on the former group.
The division’s mission has been controversial among Democrats as well as career staffers at HHS. The co-chairs of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus called it “a political attempt to put patients’ health at risk in clear violation of medical duty.”
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John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.