1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Conscience Protection Act of 2017 . 2. Findings Congress finds as follows: (1) Thomas Jefferson stated a conviction common to our Nation’s founders when he declared in 1809 that [n]o provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the enterprises of the civil authority . (2) In 1973, the Supreme Court concluded that the government must leave the abortion decision to the medical judgment of the pregnant woman’s attending physician , recognizing that a physician may choose not to participate in abortion. Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 164 (1973). The Court cited with approval a policy that neither physician, hospital, nor hospital personnel shall be required to perform any act violative of personally-held moral principles , 410 U.S. at 143 n. 38, and cited State laws upholding this principle. Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, 197–8 (1973). (3) Congress’ enactments to protect this right of conscience in health care include the Church amendment of 1973 ( 42 U.S.C. 300a–7 ), the Coats/Snowe amendment of 1996 ( 42 U.S.C. 238n ), and the Weldon amendment approved by Congresses and Presidents of both parties every year since 2004. (4) None of these laws explicitly provides a private right of action so victims of discrimination can defend their conscience rights in court, and administrative enforcement by the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights has been lax, at times allowing cases to languish for years without resolution. (5) Defying the Federal Weldon amendment, California’s Department of Managed Health Care has mandated coverage for all elective abortions in all health plans under its jurisdiction. Other States such as New York and Washington have taken or considered similar action, and some States may go farther to require all physicians and hospitals to provide or facilitate abortions. On June 21, 2016, the Obama Administration concluded a nearly 2-year investigation of this matter by