Conscience clause laws allow medical providers to refuse to provide services to which they have religious or moral objections. Earlier conscience clause laws permitted providers to opt out only of the actual provision of such services. Recent Legislation and its Effect on Existing Law

The Abortion Non-Discrimination Act (ANDA) has been introduced in every Congress since the 107 th Congress. Conscience Rule

On December 19, 2008, HHS issued a new rule to implement the Church Amendment, Section 245 of the PHSA, and the Weldon Amendment. Conscience Protection and Health Reform

Legislation that attempts to reduce the number of uninsured individuals and restructure the private health insurance market has been passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate. H.R. H.R.
Conscience clause laws allow medical providers to refuse to provide services to which they have religious or moral objections. In some cases, these laws are designed to excuse such providers from performing abortions. While substantive conscience clause legislation, such as the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act, has not been approved, appropriations bills that include conscience clause provisions have been passed. This report describes the history of conscience clauses as they relate to abortion law and provides a legal analysis of the effects of such laws. The report also discusses the issuance of a new rule to implement some of the existing conscience clause laws, and recent efforts to rescind that rule. Finally, the report reviews the conscience protection provisions of the House- and Senate-passed health reform measures, H.R. 3962 and H.R. 3590.